A Quiet Place Writers Confirm They Met With Lucasfilm About Star Wars and Indiana Jones

Last year’s A Quiet Place became an unexpected success, thanks to its blend of compelling thrills, sci-fi premise, and effective drama, which earned writers Scott Beck and Bryan Woods a meeting with Lucasfilm to reveal what they would potentially do with a Star Wars or Indiana Jones project. The writing pair admits that nothing ever came of those discussions, largely because jumping into a pre-established franchise wasn’t entirely exciting to them, though the meeting is a credit to the duo’s success with the film, which was directed by John Krasinski, who also gave the script a pass before shooting.

“We went into Lucasfilm in the wake of A Quiet Place and they wanted to talk to us about Indiana Jones and Star Wars,” Woods shared with Movieweb. “And we’re like, ‘We wanna talk to you about, what is Star Wars before it was Star Wars?’ You guys have a responsibility to start a new franchise. That’s where our hearts have always been, just trying to create original ideas.”

In the horror film, the world has been overrun by mysterious monsters who hunt by sound, forcing survivors to adapt to a life of near-silence in hopes of staying alive. In addition to the film being a financial success, it was also a critical hit, resulting in the announcement of a sequel.

Krasinski wrote and is directing the upcoming sequel, with Beck and Woods being so committed to finding unique horror tales that they haven’t been directly involved in developing the sequel. That pursuit of new ideas is what prevented them from moving forward with Lucasfilm in any substantial way.

“Without giving away too much… it was simply ruminating on if we did an Indiana Jones movie, what would we want to see in Indiana Jones?” Beck confirmed. “Or if we did a Star Wars movie, what’s that chapter of the whole universe that we would want to see? So it very much was an open canvas talk. It started going down the line a little bit but, again, as Bryan said, it’s just not our DNA. We would rather create what the next Indiana Jones could be.”

While the filmmakers confirmed that their hearts weren’t in such projects, the timing of A Quiet Place‘s release comes at an interesting point in Lucasfilm’s history. In late May of last year, Solo: A Star Wars Story hit theaters, which failed to live up to financial or critical expectations. In the wake of Solo‘s release, various Lucasfilm reports confirmed that the studio began to focus on the projects that were already announced over those that would expand the franchise. It’s possible that, even if Beck and Woods landed on a compelling concept, Lucasfilm might have ultimately passed.

Beck and Woods’ next film, Haunt, hits theaters, VOD, and Digital HD this Friday, September 13th.

Would you have liked to see the pair work on a Lucasfilm project? Let us know in the comments below!