“A Quiet Place Part II” is a sequel to the breakout success horror, “A Quiet Place”. The new film picks up where the last one left off.
The film will be played exclusively in theaters and after 45 days will be released on Paramount+. So let’s dive into some trivia and facts about the new film.
- A Quiet Place Part II is a 2020 American horror film
- It is the sequel to the 2018 film A Quiet Place
- Both films follow a family that is forced to navigate and survive in a post-apocalyptic world inhabited by blind monsters with an acute sense of hearing
- The sequel was written and directed by John Krasinski under the studio Paramount Pictures
- Emily Blunt, Millicent Simmonds and Noah Jupe reprise their roles from the first film
- Cillian Murphy and Djimon Hounsou joined the cast
- Krasinski also returns from the first film in a small role
- He is seen in a flashback sequence set before the first film
- Paramount Pictures 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
- Krasinski was credited with writing the sequel based on characters created by Bryan Woods and Scott Beck for the first film
- The sequel was ultimately produced on a budget of $61 million
- The film had its world premiere in New York City on March 8, 2020
- After over a year of postponements due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was theatrically released in the United States on May 28, 2021
- It will then be available to stream on Paramount+ 45 days after its theatrical debut
- It received positive reviews from critics
- The critics praised the story, performances, and the introduction of Cillian Murphy’s character
- Paramount 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
- Krasinski said, “I had this small idea, which was to make Millie [Simmonds] 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
- He wrote a draft in three and a half weeks
- 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
- 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
- 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
- It had been adjusted to match the C-Series lenses Christensen used on the first fil
- 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
- 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 [otherwise]”
- For its theatrical release on May 28, 2021, A Quiet Place Part II was released in 3,700 theaters in the United States and Canada
- According to Fandango, US advance ticket sales were double the sales from the planned March 2020 release
- Also, the sales were more than the sales for the first film in 2018
- The film made $4.8 million from Thursday night previews
- Topping the $4.3 million figure of the first film
- The film will also be released in 12 other markets on its opening weekend, including China as a last-minute addition
- A Quiet Place Part II received mainly positive reviews from film critics
- At Rotten Tomatoes the film holds a 90% rating
- Based on 187 reviews
- With an average rating of 7.5/10
- The website’s critics consensus reads: “A nerve-wracking continuation of its predecessor, A Quiet Place Part II expands the terrifying world of the franchise without losing track of its heart”
- According to review aggregator Metacritic the film received “generally favorable reviews”
- Based on 53 critics
- With a weighted score of 71 out of 100
- Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of “A–” on an A+ to F scale
- This is an improvement from the first film’s B+ score
- In November 2020, Paramount Pictures hired Jeff Nichols to write and direct a spin-off based on an original idea from John Krasinski
- Krasinski will produce
- In May 2021, Emily Blunt revealed that Krasinski has an idea for a potential third film
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