“The event takes place on the first day of the invasion…”
We’re talking to Joseph Quinn about his new movie, A Quiet Place: Day One, a prequel to A Quiet Place I and II, originally written and directed by John Krasinski.
The new movie moves the silent action from upstate New York to New York City itself, which is thrown into chaos as we find out what happened on the day the world went silent.
“It’s much like the beginning of the first film when this problem is taking place,” Quinn continues, “except it’s with characters that you’ve never met before…”
For those who don’t know, A Quiet Place I and II took place in a post-apocalyptic future and followed the Abbott family (played by Emily Blunt, John Krasinski, Millicent Simmonds and Noah Jupe) who were struggling for survival in a world where most humans had been killed by blind but noise-sensitive creatures.
Krasinski isn’t back for the prequel, though he does have a writing and producing credit. Directing duties have been passed on to Pig’s Michael Sarnoski and with that comes a slew of new characters, lead by Quinn who plays Eric and Lupita Nyong’o who plays Samira.
“Sam is on a day trip to New York when the invasion happens and along the way she meets Eric,” Nyong’o tells us of her character.
“Eric is finding himself in a pretty tight spot a long way from home,” Quinn adds, “and [he and Sam] collide and have to navigate this new very silent existence together…”
As we’ve said, a big difference that A Quiet Place: Day One has from the previous two movies is its location, moving from a rural area to a bustling city, which Quinn tells us helps it stand out from A Quiet Place I and II.
“I think just the scale of this really,” he nods. “I think the fact that we are opening up the world to New York City which is obviously famously a pretty loud place. Cinematically, watching that unfold will be… well, maybe not a delight but….”
“It will be a moment to remember!” Nyong’o adds, laughing.
The original A Quiet Place movies were a huge success, with the first movie making an incredible $188 million at the box office from a budget of just $17 million. Its follow-up, A Quiet Place: Part II hit some stumbling blocks due to its release right at the start of the Covid pandemic, though it still made an impressive $160 million.
Quinn and Nyong’o tell us they were both nervous and excited about entering the established and successful set of movies… “It’s a bit of fun whenever you step into something, anything actually, regardless of whether it’s a franchise or not,” Quinn tells us, who of course is no stranger to entering a well-known franchise, starring in the latest season of Stranger Things.
“It’s always nerve-wracking,” Nyong’o adds. “It’s nerve-wracking more before you start because your imagination is going and you don’t know who you’re going to be working with. And there are so many new things, so many disasters that could happen.
“You might not get the character and you might make a fool of yourself. That was always the biggest fear. And then when you start working you put yourself to the test and you just get on with it…”
“And sometimes make a fool of yourself!” adds Quinn, laughing.
The first two movies very much created a deep sense of tense dread due to their characters being forced into a terrifying silence by the creatures stalking the dystopian world. Quinn and Nyong’o tell us that A Quiet Place: Day One will still very much follow those elements.
“We do adhere to the expectation that you will be scared out of your… panties (is that a thing? haha!),” Nyong’o laughs. “There are going to be those but like the other movies, our story is character-driven. So what makes the scares as scary as they are is that audiences are deeply invested (hopefully) in our characters.”
With those silent scares building apprehension in the dark confines of the cinema, but with of course every cinema trip needing a good snack, Quinn and Nyong’o give us some advice on what audiences can chomp on (quietly) while enjoying watching A Quiet Place: Day One.
“Soft snacks. Nothing crunchy…” Quinn nods
“Bananas!” Nyong’o adds.
“Bananas yeah!” Quinn laughs. “As many as you want. Bring a bunch! Blueberries. Fine…”
“Yes,” quips Nyong’o, “as long as they’re outside of their package.”
Well there you have it. Pack your fruit snacks and head on down to the cinemas!
A Quiet Place: Day One will be released in cinemas on 27 June 2024.
