A Quiet Place Part II is a 2020 American horror film and the sequel to A Quiet Place (2018). The sequel film was written and directed by John Krasinski and stars Emily Blunt, Millicent Simmonds, and Noah Jupe, who reprise their roles from the first film. Cillian Murphy and Djimon Hounsou also joined the cast. Krasinski also reprises his role from the first film in newly-filmed flashback sequences.
Paramount Pictures, the studio behind the first film, began development of a sequel in April 2018 following the box-office success of the first film. By the following August, Krasinski was writing the film, and he was hired in February 2019 to direct. Production took place in Western New York from June to September 2019.
The film had its world premiere in New York City on March 8, 2020, and after a year’s worth of postponements due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it is scheduled to be theatrically released in the United States on May 28, 2021, the start of the Memorial Day holiday weekend in the US. It will also be available to stream on Paramount+ 45 days after its theatrical debut.
Synopsis
Following the deadly events at home, the Abbott family must now face the terrors of the outside world as they continue their fight for survival in silence. Forced to venture into the unknown, they quickly realize that the creatures that hunt by sound are not the only threats that lurk beyond the sand path.
— Paramount Pictures
Cast
- Emily Blunt as Evelyn Abbott, the mother of three children: Regan, Marcus, and baby Abbott, and the widow of Lee Abbott, who died in the first film.
- Cillian Murphy as Emmett. Murphy described his character Emmett, “For me, Emmett represents where the heart of the world lies right now, which is: finally feeling like they’ve all given up. Here comes this girl who allows you to believe in more, and allows you to believe in yourself. That idea, I’ve always been really enthralled by.”
- Millicent Simmonds as Regan Abbott, Evelyn’s deaf daughter. Simmonds described her character’s evolution after the first film, “She has a lot of pressure to become an adult very quickly.” She has more of a leading role in the sequel, and according to Syfy Wire, “Deafness and ASL are inherently linked to the heroism of its heroine.” Simmonds worked with an ASL coach to make sure her signing and articulation were clean. She said she felt “a sense of pressure” being in a position to represent the deaf and hard of hearing.
- Noah Jupe as Marcus Abbott, Evelyn’s son
- Djimon Hounsou
- John Krasinski as Lee Abbott, Evelyn’s deceased husband and father of her children. He appears in a few newly-filmed flashback sequences. Krasinski said he wrote himself into the sequel because the first film “was such a personal experience” and his “love letter” to his children. He said, “It was really important for me to continue the metaphor and we actually start dealing with how this all started.”
Production
Development, writing, and casting
Paramount Pictures produced the first film, A Quiet Place, on a budget of $17 million. The studio released the film in the United States and Canada in April 2018 and grossed $50.2 million on opening weekend, well above a mid-$20 million forecast. Later in April, Paramount Chair and CEO Jim Gianopulos announced that a sequel was in development. The first film grossed $188 million in the US and Canada and ultimately $340.9 million worldwide. John Krasinski, who co-wrote, directed and starred in the first film, said he considered it “as a one-off”. Uncertain of finding similar success in a sequel, he initially told Paramount to seek another writer and director. The first film’s screenwriters Scott Beck and Bryan Woods did not return for the sequel. Woods said they were not interested in a franchise approach and that they would rather try “to create original ideas” and use their writing credits “as an opportunity to push several projects”. Beck said, “Instead of focusing on sequels per se, it’s about investing back into the ecosystem of original ideas in a massive marketplace.”
Three months after A Quiet Place‘s release, Krasinski decided to brainstorm ideas for a sequel. According to Krasinski, Paramount rejected pitches from other writers and directors that were considered too franchise-oriented. He said, “I had this small idea, which was to make Millie the lead of the movie… her character opens the door to all the themes I was dealing with in the first movie.” The studio invited him to write a script based on his idea. By August 2018, Krasinski was writing the film. In the following February, he was hired to direct the sequel, and actors Emily Blunt, Millicent Simmonds, and Noah Jupe were confirmed to reprise their roles. In March, Cillian Murphy joined the cast. In the following June, Brian Tyree Henry joined the cast, but he left the film due to scheduling problems. He was replaced by Djimon Hounsou in August.
Filming
In June 2019, production began on the sequel. Filming officially commenced on July 15. There were 47 days of filming throughout Western New York, including locations like Akron, Olcott, Dunkirk, Lackawanna, and Buffalo. Other locations included Erie County and the city of North Tonawanda, and Barcelona Harbor in the town of Westfield in Chautauqua County. Filming also took place on a giant sound stage at Buffalo FilmWorks in South Buffalo. One of the last filming locations, the northbound South Grand Island Bridge, was shut down for 13 hours for filming.
In addition to Western New York, filming took place in the NY region of Hudson Valley, specifically the towns of Dover, Pawling, and New Paltz. In New Paltz, the Wallkill Valley Rail Trail was revisited to film on a bridge that featured in the first film. The production invested over $10 million in Upstate New York, created 400 hires, and involved 300 background actors. By late September, production was finished.
Cinematography
Polly Morgan was the cinematographer for A Quiet Place Part II, replacing Charlotte Bruus Christensen from the first film. Morgan continued the first film’s use of 35 mm film and described its effect, “Although A Quiet Place 2 is a horror, it looks pretty and engaging, with a nostalgic look that you would find hard to achieve digitally.” The film’s “extensive dark situations” (night scenes and stage work that comprised 75% of screen time) were shot with Kodak Vision3 500T 5219 film stock, while Vision3 250D 5207 was used mainly for day exteriors. Morgan filmed with Panavision Panaflex Millennium XL2 cameras and T-Series anamorphic lenses, which had been adjusted to match the C-Series lenses Christensen used on the first film. One of Morgan’s most challenging situations was lighting and shooting the furnace set.
The sequel’s cinematography also evolved from its predecessor in following more action. Morgan described director Krasinski’s intent, “John wanted to always keep the camera moving and create long ‘oners’ to play with rhythm and tension and to show how normal life can suddenly become very different and dangerous—all in the same shot.” Morgan used an array of tracking vehicles, on which there were different camera mounts including jibs, cranes, and Steadicam vests, with the vehicles often going full speed.
Sound design
For the sequel’s sound design, supervising sound editors Erik Aadahl and Ethan Van der Ryn and re-recording mixer Brandon Proctor reprised their roles. Krasinski instructed them to try to “follow the rules” set up in the first film and said of the experience, “What we found was by doing that, and not trying to be cool, we ended up uncovering way more stuff than we ever would’ve been able to .”
Marketing
Paramount Pictures previewed a 30-second teaser trailer for A Quiet Place Part II before select theatrical screenings of Black Christmas, which was released on December 13, 2019. Less than a week later, the teaser trailer became available online. A full trailer was released on January 1, 2020. During pre-game coverage before the Super Bowl LIV on February 2, 2020, Paramount released a 30-second TV spot, which revealed that Krasinski reprised his role in a newly-filmed flashback sequence.
In early March, Paramount initiated “survival room” experiences in New York and Los Angeles in which groups of visitors can try to overcome “physical and mental obstacles” without making too much noise. The setups cost less than a million dollars for Paramount. A marketing executive anticipated between seven thousand and eight thousand people to go through the experiences and for fans and social media influencers to engage in experiential marketing. Emily Blunt appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on March 10 to promote the film. She appeared in a parody commercial advertising A Quiet Plane, starring as a stewardess that enforces silence as a top priority to a plane’s passengers. Before the film’s postponement (see below), Paramount planned to host a double-feature event on March 18, 2020, that would screen the first and second films and give collectors prints to attendees.
Following the postponement of A Quiet Place Part II and other films during the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, teleconferencing became popular, and Paramount’s marketing team started providing virtual backgrounds of A Quiet Place Part II and other films to be available on Zoom Video Communications.
Release
Overview
A Quiet Place Part II had its world premiere at the Lincoln Center in New York City on March 8, 2020. Paramount Pictures plans to release the film in theaters on May 28, 2021. The studio will also release the film on Paramount+ 45 days after its theatrical release.
Originally set for March 20, 2020, the film’s release was first postponed to September 4, 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Without a streaming service from 2020 to early 2021, Paramount auctioned off multiple upcoming feature films but decided to keep A Quiet Place Part II. The change to April 23, 2021 was the studio’s second postponement, and the change to September 17, 2021 was the third postponement. After the postponements, it was moved earlier in the year to May 28, 2021.
Prior to the March 2020 plans, Paramount had initially planned to release the film on May 15, 2020.
First postponement
The studio initially planned to release the film in theaters globally starting on March 18, 2020, before it delayed the film’s release due to the pandemic. Paramount had already spent around 60% of its budget for global prints and advertising, and Deadline Hollywood wrote that the film’s delay was “truly a shocker” because the P&A expense seemed to indicate that rescheduling was not an option. Director John Krasinski said he wanted moviegoers to see the film together and that with the pandemic, it was not the right time to provide that experience. A Quiet Place Part II is among the majority of theatrical releases not changing to a streaming release. CNBC wrote that in particular, the film and In the Heights were considered films best experienced with a crowd.
The film was initially to be released in the United Kingdom and Australia on March 19, 2020, and in the United States and Canada, including Dolby Cinema and IMAX, on March 20, 2020. Paramount initially stated on March 6 that it would not reschedule the film in response to the pandemic, but on March 12, the studio pulled the film from release worldwide with the intent of scheduling it later in the year. In April 2020, it announced the release date of September 4, 2020. The September release date would have been the start of the US holiday weekend Labor Day Weekend. Deadline Hollywood wrote at the time that the weekend is “summer finale” and “typically the deadest period ever for moviegoing” but that the studio anticipated pent-up demand after pandemic fears subside.
Second and third postponements
In July 2020, Paramount changed the film’s release date from September 4, 2020 to April 23, 2021. At the time of announcement, movie theaters in the United States and Canada had been closed for nearly four months, and the pandemic was continuing to spread across the United States. The second postponement followed other studios’ decisions at the time to indefinitely delay the Warner Bros. film Tenet and the Disney film Mulan. Variety reported, “While those films had been long positioned to help revive moviegoing, sources say that Paramount did not want ‘A Quiet Place Part 2’ to stay on Labor Day weekend and have the pressure of being the first new movie out of the gate during the pandemic.”
In January 2021, Paramount postponed the film’s release from April 23, 2021 to September 17, 2021. At the time of postponement, COVID-19 infections had surged in the United States in recent months. Variety wrote of the circumstances in the United States and Canada, “Around 65% of movie theaters remain closed, and cinemas that have stayed open have struggled to sell tickets.” The postponement followed other studios’ postponements of their films No Time to Die, Ghostbusters: Afterlife, Morbius, Cinderella, and The King’s Man. On the September 2021 date, A Quiet Place Part II would be scheduled to open against Death on the Nile, The Boss Baby: Family Business, and The Man from Toronto.
Streaming service
In February 2021, Paramount announced that A Quiet Place Part II would become available on its streaming service Paramount+ 45 days after its theatrical release. Deadline Hollywood reported that it was “a clear sign that Paramount is committed to theatrical, but still open to the future of streaming”. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, movie theater operators sought for films to be theatrically released for 90 days before being released on home media. As a result of the pandemic, Warner Bros. opted to release their 2021 slate of films on HBO Max the same day as in theaters, and Universal Pictures made its films available via video-on-demand 17 days after their theatrical releases. Variety reported, “Paramount’s strategy may be received the most favorably among film exhibitors,” with A Quiet Place Part II among Paramount’s tentpole films having the 45-day frame and its other titles having a 30-day frame. Boxoffice Pro reported that the original film grossed 94% of its total gross of $188 million in the United States and Canada by its 45th day, which indicated that Paramount’s “decision works more in favor of exhibitors than against”.
Move-up
On March 4, 2021, director John Krasinski announced that the release date would be moved earlier from September 17, 2021 to May 28, 2021, which is the start of Memorial Day weekend in the United States. Boxoffice Pro wrote, “This marks the first time post-pandemic that a theatrically exclusive major studio tentpole has moved a planned release up by this many months rather than back.” Earlier in the day of announcement, Universal Pictures had postponed the action film F9 from late May 2021 to June 25, 2021. In the move-up process, Paramount postponed another of its films, Infinite, from the May 28 release date to September 24, 2021. Deadline Hollywood reported that Paramount was encouraged by theaters reopening in New York City starting the weekend of March 5, 2021 and by plans for theaters in Los Angeles to also reopen in the near future.
Spin-off
In November 2020, Paramount Pictures hired Jeff Nichols to write and direct a spin-off based on an original idea from John Krasinski, who will produce.