A Quiet Place Part II is a 2020 American post-apocalyptic horror film written, directed, and co-produced by John Krasinski. It is the sequel to A Quiet Place (2018), following the family from the film as they continue to navigate a post-apocalyptic world inhabited by blind aliens with an acute sense of hearing. Emily Blunt, Millicent Simmonds, Noah Jupe, and Krasinski reprise their roles from the first film, while Cillian Murphy and Djimon Hounsou join the cast.
Paramount Pictures began developing a sequel in April 2018, following the box-office success of A Quiet Place. By August, Krasinski was working on the screenplay, and in February 2019, he was confirmed as returning to direct. Krasinski's starting idea was making Simmonds the lead, as he considered her character the conduit for the themes from the first film that he wanted to expand on in the sequel. Production took place in Western New York from June to September 2019. Krasinski was credited with writing the sequel, based on characters created by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods. The sequel was produced on a budget of around , over three times the original's .
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 , 2021. It became available to stream on Paramount+ 45 days after its theatrical debut. The film set several box office records, including the biggest opening weekend during the course of the pandemic, and grossed $297.5 million worldwide. It received positive reviews from critics, who praised the story and the addition of Murphy's character Emmett. A Quiet Place Part III, the third and final film following the original film's family, is scheduled to be released on July 30, 2027.
Plot
In the small town of Millbrook, New York, the Abbott family — parents Evelyn and Lee, daughter Regan, who is deaf, and sons Marcus and Beau — attend a Little League baseball game. A meteor-like object is seen hurtling toward Earth. Soon after, hostile alien creatures emerge and begin attacking. The blind creatures possess armored skin, incredible speed and strength, and an acute sense of hearing, attacking anything that makes noise.
Over a year later, the aliens have killed much of Earth's population, including Lee and Beau. Regan discovers that high-frequency audio disrupts the aliens and modifies her cochlear implant to emit the signal via a handheld microphone. With their home destroyed, the surviving Abbotts set out in search of other survivors. While entering a fenced-off area, Evelyn accidentally activates a sound alarm. Marcus steps into a bear trap and screams, attracting an alien. Regan and Evelyn kill it, free Marcus, and take shelter in an abandoned steel foundry.
They encounter Emmett, a former friend who has lost his family and lives alone in a soundproof bunker. He reluctantly allows them to stay but refuses further help. Marcus hears the song "Beyond the Sea" playing repeatedly on a radio station. Regan interprets the signal as a message from survivors living on the nearby Norwalk Islands. She theorizes that if she can reach the island's radio tower, she can broadcast the high-frequency signal as a weapon. Regan sets out alone but is attacked by an alien. Emmett rescues her and eventually agrees to help complete her mission.
Evelyn leaves the foundry to retrieve medical supplies, leaving Marcus and the baby behind. While exploring, Marcus finds the decaying body of Emmett's wife. Startled, he makes noise, drawing an alien. He hides with the baby inside an air-tight compartment, risking suffocation.
Emmett and Regan reach a marina, where they are ambushed by hostile looters. Emmett intentionally draws aliens to the scene, which kill the attackers. One creature drowns, revealing that the aliens cannot swim. Emmett and Regan escape in a boat and reach the island, where a small colony of survivors lives in relative safety. The colony's leader explains that when the U.S. government discovered the creatures could not swim, the National Guard attempted evacuations to the islands. However, chaos during boarding attracted the aliens, and only two of twelve boats made it.
Meanwhile, Evelyn returns to the foundry and rescues Marcus and the baby. The family hides in the bunker as an alien enters the facility. The next day, an alien reaches the island on a drifting boat and attacks the colonists, killing the leader. Regan and Emmett flee to the island's radio station. Regan transmits the high-frequency signal over the radio, incapacitating the alien, then kills it using a metal rod.
Back at the foundry, Marcus hears the broadcast and plays the signal through a portable radio, weakening the alien inside before shooting it. Regan leaves her cochlear implant connected to the radio station microphone, enabling the signal to be broadcast for use by other survivors.
Cast
Emily Blunt as Evelyn Abbott, a recently-widowed mother who leads her family to search for other people. Cillian Murphy as Emmett, a friend of Lee's who is a hardened, reclusive survivor. Millicent Simmonds as Regan Abbott, Evelyn's deaf daughter. Noah Jupe as Marcus Abbott, Evelyn's son. Djimon Hounsou as the Man on the Island, the leader of an island colony of survivors. John Krasinski as Lee Abbott, Evelyn's deceased husband and father of her children. Scoot McNairy as Marina Man, who leads a group of bandits that prey on travelers trying to reach the nearby island. Alice Sophie Malyukova as Girl at Marina, a member of the bandits Dean Woodward as Beau Abbott, Evelyn's deceased son. He was portrayed by Cade Woodward, who is Dean's real-life older brother, in the first film. Okieriete Onaodowan as Ronnie, a police officer. Zachary Golinger as Emmett's young son. Lauren Ashley Cristiano as Emmett's deceased wife. Wayne Duvall as Roger, a grocery store owner. Barbara Singer as Woman in Store, an elderly woman at Roger's grocery store.
Production A Quiet Place Part II was produced under Paramount Pictures with a budget of . It was written and directed by John Krasinski, who also produced the film alongside Michael Bay, Andrew Form, and Brad Fuller.
Development and casting Paramount produced the first film, A Quiet Place, on a budget of . The studio released the film in the United States and Canada in April 2018, where it grossed 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 totaled $188 million in the US and Canada and $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 Places 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. 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. By August 2018, Krasinski was writing the film. He wrote a draft in three and a half weeks.
In the following February, he was confirmed to direct the sequel, and actors Emily Blunt, Millicent Simmonds, and Noah Jupe were set to reprise their roles. In March, Cillian Murphy joined the cast. Murphy described his character as such, "For me, Emmett represents where the heart of the world lies right now, which is: finally feeling like they've all given up. Here comes this girl [Regan] who allows you to believe in more, and allows you to believe in yourself. That idea, I've always been really enthralled by." In the following June, Brian Tyree Henry was also added, but later left the film due to scheduling problems. He was replaced by Djimon Hounsou in August.
Krasinski said he wrote himself into the sequel because the first film "was such a personal experience" and his "love letter" to his children. He said, "It was really important for me to continue the metaphor and we actually start dealing with how this all started." Simmonds, who is deaf in real life, described her character's evolution after the first film, "She has a lot of pressure to become an adult very quickly." Simmonds has a more prominent role in the sequel, and according to Syfy Wire, deafness and American Sign Language "are inherently linked to the heroism of its heroine." Simmonds worked with an ASL coach to make sure her signing and articulation were clean. She said she felt "a sense of pressure" being in a position to represent the deaf and hard of hearing.
Filming In June 2019, production began on the sequel. Filming officially commenced on . There were 47 days of filming throughout Western New York, including 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. An abandoned Bethlehem Steel plant in Lackawanna was used as a filming location. One of the last filming locations, the northbound South Grand Island Bridge, was shut down for 13 hours for filming.
In addition to Western New York, filming took place in the Hudson Valley, specifically the towns of Dover, Pawling, and New Paltz. In New Paltz, the Wallkill Valley Rail Trail was revisited to film on a bridge that was featured in the first film. The production invested over $10 million in Upstate New York, created 400 hires, and involved 300 background actors. By late September, production was finished.
Cinematography 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, which had been adjusted to match the C-Series lenses Christensen used on the first film. One of Morgan's most challenging situations was lighting and shooting the furnace setting.
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.
Sound design