A Quiet Place: John Krasinski Opens Up About Passing Directing Duties for Spin-Off Film

After a year of delays due to the pandemic, A Quiet Place Part II finally hit theatres in May and managed to cross $100 million at the box office. The movie was helmed by John Krasinski, who also directed the first film. There have been reports that a spin-off film will be coming next, but Krasinski doesn’t plan to take the helm. Instead, the movie will be directed by Jeff Nichols (Take Shelter, Midnight Special, Mud) who has already penned the script. During a recent interview with Empire, Krasinski opened up about passing the torch to Nichols.

“Truly the only person I had in mind when asked whether I would hand this off was Jeff. I think he’s one of the best filmmakers, Mud is one of my favourite movies, and so real and intimate. It’s exactly the sort of paints we’re painting with in A Quiet Place – very organic characters you fall in love with. So he was my first choice for this, and when he said yes I was over the moon. I pitched him my story, he’s gone and developed the world on his own with that jumping-off point, and I’m so thrilled. He’s actually just turning in a script now, and I loved it. I absolutely loved it, and I can’t wait to see him shoot this thing,” Krasinski shared.

Before the spinoff was greenlit, franchise star and Krasinski’s real-life wife, Emily Blunt, said that a third A Quiet Place movie was a strong possibility. She said it was just a matter of where Krasinski would decide to take the franchise. “[Krasinski] has a whole arc of ideas that could work. I think he just wanted to see how people responded to this one before he fully engaged his brain on the third one. But he has a couple of great ideas,” Blunt told Collider.

Krasinski was previously hesitant to overcommit. “I haven’t heard from the studio that they want a third one,” he told Total Film. “But the good news is that the studio and I are on the same page in that this isn’t one of those franchises where we keep pumping them out if they make money. I think we’ve proven that this is an original idea that is really beloved by people in a way that… I don’t want to break that promise to people.”

A Quiet Place Part II is now playing in theaters.