A Quiet Place (film series)

A Quiet Place is an American post-apocalyptic horror media franchise centering on a series of films set in a world inhabited by blind extraterrestrial creatures with an acute sense of hearing. A Quiet Place (2018) is the first film in the series, which was followed by the sequel A Quiet Place Part II (2020), both directed by John Krasinski. The spin-off prequel, A Quiet Place: Day One, is directed by Michael Sarnoski and was released on June 28, 2024.

A third and final sequel, A Quiet Place Part III, directed by Krasinski, is in development. The franchise also includes A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead, a video game set within the same fictional universe that is in development by Stormind Games to be published by Saber Interactive in 2024.

A Quiet Place (2018)
The plot revolves around a mother (Emily Blunt) and father (Krasinski) who struggle to survive and raise their children in a post-apocalyptic world inhabited by blind monsters with an acute sense of hearing.

A Quiet Place Part II (2020)
The sequel follows the family from the first film as they continue to navigate a post-apocalyptic world inhabited by blind aliens with an acute sense of hearing. Cillian Murphy and Djimon Hounsou joined the original cast.

A Quiet Place: Day One (2024)
In November 2020, it was announced that a spin-off prequel film was in development, with Jeff Nichols set to serve as writer/director, based on a story from John Krasinski. The project is a joint-venture production between Platinum Dunes and Sunday Night Productions, with Michael Bay, Andrew Form, Brad Fuller, and Krasinski producing. In May 2021, Krasinski announced that Nichols' script was complete and submitted to the studio. By October, however, Nichols stepped down as director citing creative differences. In January 2022, Michael Sarnoski signed on as director and writer. In April 2022 at CinemaCon, the film's title was officially announced as, A Quiet Place: Day One. Principal photography commenced on January 2, 2023, in London, England.

The film was released on June 28, 2024.

A Quiet Place Part III (TBA)
In May 2021, Blunt revealed that Krasinski has plans for a third and final A Quiet Place film. Acknowledging that he had wanted to see how the second installment was received before moving forward on the next film, she stated it is intended to be a trilogy. In July, Blunt confirmed that Krasinski is working on a third and final installment, separate from the spin-off movie, with intentions to once again serve as director. In February 2022, A Quiet Place Part III was officially announced with a scheduled release date in 2025. However, in February 2024 the film no longer had a set release date.

A Quiet Place
Scott Beck and Bryan Woods wrote A Quiet Place based on a concept they conceived in college. When they first spoke with Platinum Dunes about the project, the two said they wanted Blunt for the role of the mother. Platinum Dunes' Michael Bay had a first-look deal with Paramount Pictures and showed their script to the studio, which bought it. Platinum Dunes producers Andrew Form and Brad Fuller sent the script to Krasinski to play the role of the father. The concept of parents protecting their children appealed to Kransinski. After reading the script, he pitched his vision of the story to Blunt, who suggested he direct the film. When he co-wrote the script, he had Blunt in mind for the role, but did not ask her to do it as she had just had a child, was working on another film, and he was concerned that she would either decline it or accept it to support him. "I just thought if she does this, she has to come to it on her own." Blunt initially did not want to be cast, but after reading Krasinski's script on a plane flight she felt she needed to do it as the story "represented some of my deepest fears—of not being able to protect my children." After finishing his script, Krasinski pitched to Paramount his vision for the film.

Beck and Woods said that Krasinski taking over the film as director "wasn't about reshaping it in any massive way" and that he "really protected our vision of the script". Krasinski said that their script differed from his "in a bunch of little ways, but the heart was all theirs. They really had this thing that I wanted to be a part of." He focused on the idea of family being the core of the story, "so every scare has to be because you love this family, every detail has to become a detail that says something about this family not just to be cool, not just to be scary." His contributions to the screenplay included the use of sign language, sand paths, the lights, and the walk to the forest and the pharmacy. The idea for sign language came about when, prior to filming, deaf actress Simmonds showed Krasinski the American Sign Language (ASL) translation for a scene's dialogue, and he found her gestures to be "so much more cinematic than saying the words would've been". Blunt contributed to the pre-production stage of the film. Most of the directing Krasinski did with her role was off-screen from the moment she accepted the project. Blunt offered ideas, and the two worked through the script and discussed the shots for the film before it went into production. By the time they got on set they had "done all the collaborating ... all the hard work."

The film was produced on a budget of $17 million, and shot in 36 days. Production took place from May to November 2017 in Dutchess and Ulster counties in upstate New York. During filming, the crew avoided making noise so diegetic sounds (e.g., the sound of rolling dice on a game board) could be recorded; the sounds were amplified in post-production. The musical score was used with the intention of not dominating the film but providing a more familiar cinematic experience to audiences, so they did not feel like they were part of a "silence experiment". For the creatures' behavior, Aadahl and Van der Ryn said they were inspired by animal echolocation, such as that employed by bats. The sound of feedback, normally avoided by sound editors, was woven into the story at a loudness level that would not bother audiences too much.

The filmmakers hired deaf mentor Douglas Ridloff to teach ASL to the actors and to be available to make corrections. They also hired an ASL interpreter for Simmonds, so that spoken and signed language could be interpreted back and forth on set. Simmonds also helped teach her fellow actors to sign. Producers Andrew Form and Bradley Fuller said that they initially planned not to provide on-screen subtitles for sign-language dialogue while providing only "context clues," but they realized that subtitles were necessary for the scene in which the deaf daughter and her hearing father argue about the modified hearing aid. They subsequently added subtitles for all sign-language dialogue in the film.

A Quiet Place Part II
In April 2018, Paramount chair and CEO Jim Gianopulos announced that a sequel was in development. Krasinski said he had considered the first film "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."

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 [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. Krasinski decided to write and direct the film. Actors Emily Blunt, Millicent Simmonds, and Noah Jupe reprised their roles from the first film, and Cillian Murphy and Djimon Hounsou joined the cast.

Production took place from June 2019 to late September in New York.

Release and reception
A Quiet Place premiered at South by Southwest on March 9, 2018, and was released in the United States on April 6, 2018, by Paramount Pictures. It grossed over $340 million worldwide, and received critical acclaim for its atmosphere, direction, acting, and sound design. It was described as a "smart, wickedly frightening good time", and chosen by both the National Board of Review and American Film Institute as one of the top ten films of 2018.

A Quiet Place Part II had its world premiere at the Lincoln Center in New York City on March 8, 2020. Paramount Pictures originally set its theatrical release date for March 20, 2020, but postponed it to September 4, 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was then postponed for April 23, 2021. The film was again delayed to September 17, 2021, and then moved earlier to its final release date of May 28, 2021.

In other media
In October 2021, it was announced that a video game set within the same continuity as the film series, is in development and is set to release in 2024. The game will reportedly include an untold original story. The developers stated: "The A Quiet Place video game will let fans experience the tension of the films with a level of immersion they’ve never felt before." The project which will be published by Saber Interactive, was created in collaboration by iLLOGIKA, EP1T0ME Studios Inc., and Paramount Pictures Corporation. In June 2024, the title was officially announced as A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead, with the first trailer debut, and the launch of the games official webpage.

In June 2024, it was announced that A Quiet Place would be coming to Universal's Halloween Horror Nights.