Despite having some reservations about returning to the world of A Quiet Place, the film’s co-writer, director, and star John Krasinski has steadily gotten more involved in the production. While he still hasn’t said if he’ll be directing the follow-up, in an interview with The Playlist (via Empire Online), the star of Amazon’s Jack Ryan did give some hints about the forthcoming sequel. Namely that it won’t be dealing with anyone from the Abbot family this time around, and instead look at how the larger world has been impacted by these creatures that hunt using sound.
“The beauty of it is that it’s the expansion of a world,” said Krasinksi. “Most sequels are about the return of a villain or a hero, and you have to build a totally new story around your favorite hero or favorite villain. [With this sequel], we actually have the world to deal with. The world is actually the star of the movie. So, this set of circumstances – how the rest of the world is dealing with this apocalyptic tragedy – is the fun of it then. That’s what drew me back.“
So, rather than being a traditional sequel that continues the story we know, the world of A Quiet Place may play out more like an anthology, exploring different characters in different circumstances that have adapted to this terrifying new world.
“So here I am now writing it and we’ll see if I end up directing it,” Krasinski teased. “But it’s an entertaining idea because I think for me, the cool part about this is, that it doesn’t feel like a sequel.“
A Quiet Place was directed by Krasinski, who starred opposite his real-life wife Emily Blunt (Mary Poppins Returns). Noah Jupe (Suburbicon, Wonder) and Millicent Simmonds (Wonderstruck) rounded out the cast as a family of four that were forced to navigate their lives in silence after mysterious creatures that hunt by sound threaten their survival. If they hear you, they hunt you. Because their silence meant their survival, the film’s dialogue was kept to a minimum.
Produced by Michael Bay (Transformers) and his Platinum Dunes partners Andrew Form and Brad Fuller (Ouija, The Purge, Texas Chainsaw Massacre), A Quiet Place came from a spec script by Bryan Woods & Scott Beck that was later rewritten by Krasinski. The untitled sequel is currently slated to hit theaters on May 15, 2020.