John Krasinski Will Direct ‘A Quiet Place 2’; Emily Blunt Will Return

Silence is survival, but the cat’s out of the bag. John Krasinski will return to the post-apocalyptic world of strange alien creatures that “see” through sound for the sequel to “A Quiet Place.” Krasinski teased the news and the just-announced release date for “A Quiet Place 2“— 5-15-20” on social media and the trades confirmed what he suggested: the director is coming back for Paramount‘s sequel.

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“Well, I feel like [directing the sequel] might be the next step, so I’m prepared for it,” he said with a laugh in a Playlist interview late last year, in response to the idea that the producers of the film might be Jedi mind tricking him into directing it again. Krasinski was, at first, only supposed to write the sequel, but even in our interview, it sounded like he was talking himself into it.

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“Well, I’m currently writing the script, and it was one of those things where I didn’t think I would write or participate in the sequel, to be honest,” he admitted. “I was so proud of the first one, and obviously, we didn’t make it a with the intention that there would be a sequel. That said, I’m a realist, and I try to see things from everybody’s point of view, and I certainly understand why a studio would want to make a second one after the movie’s success. But I didn’t want any part of it because if it wasn’t going to be organic—a sort of next step for the world— I didn’t want to be a part of it. I said, “just go make another one [without me].”

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“A Quiet Place” centered on a post-apocalyptic Earth sometime in the near future where a family is forced to live in silence while hiding from monsters with ultra-sensitive hearing. A family drama as much as it was a thrilling creature horror movie, it starred Krasinski, his wife Emily Blunt, with Millicent Simmonds and Noah Jupe, playing their two children.

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And while he hasn’t said it outright, one shouldn’t expect that family to return as the lead characters. Krasinski and the producer have intimated for months that the world they built—the creatures and this ravaged earth—would remain, but everything else would change. I.e., “A Quiet Place 2” may end up more like anthology stories where the movies take place in different parts of the world, and different families or groups of people struggle to survive.

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“Emily [Blunt] articulated it the best when she said [the sequel is] the second book in the series,” he explained to us about what the second chapter of the film would be, albeit somewhat vaguely. “It’s just an expansion of a world, and I think that’s the beauty of it. Most sequels or 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, these set of circumstance—how the rest of the world is dealing with this apocalyptic tragedy— is the fun of it then. That’s what drew me back.”

But hold the phone. Deadline says Emily Blunt’s deal has closed to return for the sequel, so she’s coming back. Encountering new survivors as she takes over the family from her *spoiler* deceased husband? Will she maybe hand off the series to a new cast of characters? Whatever the case is, we’re in.

“A Quiet Place 2” or whatever it’s ultimately called lands in theaters May 15, 2020.

…time to go back.
#PartII
5-15-20 pic.twitter.com/rDMw4UUwDn

— John Krasinski (@johnkrasinski) February 22, 2019