Paramount Pictures2018’s sleeper hit of the year, A Quiet Place, has been given an official release date by film studio Paramount for its sequel.
In a year filled with blockbuster hits, including the omnipresent Avengers: Infinity War and Black Panther, to poignant Oscar-worthy pieces such as Spike Lee’s incredible BlacKkKlansman, John Krasinski’s A Quite Place came out of nowhere and scared the be-Jesus out of us.
It’s hard not to be surprised by its quality but its success at the box office was rather unprecedented. In my opinion, it certainly deserved all the plaudits and its numbers (particularly) on its rather modest budget. But more often than not, artistically good films with brilliant concepts tend to perform poorly in the mainstream market.
Which is why it was a breath of fresh air to learn Krasinski’s masterpiece was both a critical and commercial darling, with studio Paramount giving him the green light for a sequel.
While an official release date is yet to be confirmed, Paramount are looking at May 2020, according to Forbes.
Released in UK cinemas back in April this year, A Quiet Place was directed by Krasinski, a far cry from his charming days as Jim Halpert from The Office (US).
He stars in the horror/sci-fi flick, alongside real-life wife, Emily Blunt. It received rave reviews and garnered a cool $50 million on its opening weekend. It’s since gone on to earn $188 million overall.
A Quiet Place is the biggest-grossing wholly original live-action flick since Gravity nearly five years ago (inflation notwithstanding). As to whether we actually need a sequel is null and void at this point, especially when your film only cost $17 million to make and gives you a domestic and international return of $188 million and $332 million respectively.
Paramount PicturesIt’s proof you don’t need a ridiculous production budget, fancy CGI or marketing gimmicks to sell a good movie. Sometimes all you need is a good concept and good storytelling.
Plans for a sequel were always on the cards for Paramount, apparently. Back in April at the Las Vegas CinemaCon, just weeks after its release, CEO, Jim Gianopulos, confirmed a sequel was already in the works.
He told the crowd:
We’re already working with these guys on a sequel. If you told me five years ago that an almost silent film starring the very funny guy Jim from ‘The Office’ would have been a hit at Paramount, I would have said, ‘Well, I should go work at Paramount’.
For those who have yet to watch A Quiet Place, it tells the tale of a family whose survival depends on complete silence, as they’re being pursued by mysterious creatures who hunt by sound.
What makes the film so compelling – and terrifying at the same time – is the minimal dialogue. It creates a real sense of fear and tension.
Casual film buffs will be surprised to know A Quiet Place was produced by Michael Bay – the man behind all the Transformers films – or as I like to call him; ‘the man who would blow up the world if he thought it would make for great visual effects’.
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