John Krasinski is officially returning to direct “A Quiet Place 2,” the sequel to last year’s critical and box office smash hit that earned $340 million worldwide and an Oscar nomination for Best Sound Editing. While Krasinski’s return to the director’s chair was expected (he had already been confirmed to write the script), a crucial new bit of information about the sequel is that Emily Blunt is coming back as well. Per Deadline, Blunt’s deal to star in “A Quiet Place 2” is already closed.
Blunt’s return for the sequel helps paint a clearer picture about what to expect in the new movie. No plot details on “A Quiet Place 2” have been revealed, so it was unclear whether or not the sequel would pick up with a different story set in the same world as the first film or continue to focus on the surviving characters: Blunt’s Evelyn Abbott and her two children, played by Noah Jupe and Millicent Simmonds.
In an interview with Fandango last April, co-screenwriters Bryan Woods and Scott Beck teased a sequel could explore parts of the “A Quiet Place” world beyond the Abbott family. “It’s such a fun world. There are so many things you could do,” Woods said. Beck added, “There are certainly so many stories you could tell. It’s just really, at the end of the day, who are the characters in this, and what does this situation mean to that dynamic?”
Krasinski spoke to Deadline about sequel plans last fall and he remained cryptic about whether or not the script would follow Blunt’s character. “The thing that I loved in the movie, where my mind kept wandering as we were making it, was the question of who was on the other end of those fires, when the father lights the fire and in the distance those other fires light up,” Krasinski said. “How did those people survive? How did that old man survive?”
Blunt’s casting for “A Quiet Place 2” suggests the Abbott family will still be featured prominently in the sequel. The sequel ended with Evelyn cocking a gun and preparing to fend off monsters storming the family home. The sequel could very well pick up in that scene and begin with Evelyn’s defense and then, given Krasinski’s tease above, follow the family as they head out of the home and link up with fellow survivors. Neither Jupe or Simmonds are confirmed for the sequel as well.
Blunt’s work in “A Quiet Place” won her the Screen Actors Guild prize for Best Supporting Actress last month. Production on “A Quiet Place 2” is set to begin in July. Paramount Pictures will release the sequel in theaters May 15, 2020.