A Quiet Place: Part II hasn't even reached us yet, but a third movie in the captivating horror series is planned. Deadline reports that Mud filmmaker Jeff Nichols will direct A Quiet Place, the spin-off movie, taking over from helmer John Krasinski.
Released in 2018, A Quiet Place was a barnstorming horror movie success for Krasinski. The film dramatised one family's post-apocalyptic battle against monsters (later revealed by Krasinski to be aliens) who hunt via sound. This allowed the minimalist sound design to act as its own dread-fuelled symphony, every squeak and creak resonating with the force of a nuclear bomb.
Krasinski starred opposite his real-life wife Emily Blunt and the film enjoyed significant box office returns, grossing $350 million against its slender $17 million budget. A Quiet Place: Part II picks up with the bereaved Evelyn, her deaf daughter Regan (Millicent Simmonds) and her son Marcus (Noah Jupe) on their search for a new home. On the way, they encounter Cillian Murphy's troubled survivalist Emmet and discover that the aliens aren't the only threat in this strange new world.
Rumour has it that the new movie will broaden the horizons of the series, so the focus may deviate from Blunt's Evelyn and her family. Certainly, there's plenty of scope to venture beyond the limited environment seen in the first movie, although A Quiet Place: Part II already promises to expand on that. Despite the death of his character Lee in the first film, Krasinski will appear in the second movie, presumably during the flashback scenes (teased in the trailer) when the aliens first arrive on Earth.
The first film (and, we hope, the second) derived power from the contrast between the bucolic setting and the frenzied alien horror. This bodes well for Nichols taking over. As a filmmaker, Nichols has always excelled in drinking in the tactility and beauty of the natural landscape, while eliciting fine performances from his actors.
Mud showcased a fine performance from Matthew McConaughey (then at the outset of the 'McConaissance') as a good-natured rural drifter in a story that riffed on the Mississippi locations of Mark Twain. And the acclaimed Loving detailed a real-life interracial romance that flew in the face of conservative Deep South attitudes, with superb acting from Joel Edgerton and Ruth Negga.
That said, Nichols has never tackled a straight-up horror movie, although his allegorical Take Shelter, starring Michael Shannon, was brimming with a sense of overwrought paranoia. This is the chance for an already noteworthy filmmaker to step into a genre that's completely new to him, although we can perhaps expect a more contemplative tone compared to the audience-friendly approach of Krasinski.
As before, Michael Bay's Platinum Dunes label will be producing, as will Krasinski. Nichols will both write and direct the project, working from an original idea from Krasinski while no doubt firmly putting his own stamp on the material. There's no release date for the third film yet, while A Quiet Place: Part II is tentatively scheduled for 23rd April 2021.
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