Why John Krasinski Wanted To Turn A Quiet Place Down

15 minutes ago

There have been multiple acclaimed horror movies in 2018, but the most critically and commercially successful one so far is easily John Krasinski's A Quiet Place. The scary and innovative film not only enjoyed box office success, earning $326.3 million worldwide on a $17 million budget, but it also announced John Krasinski as a major directing talent to watch, just like Get Out did for Jordan Peele a year earlier. So it may come as a surprise that John Krasinski initially wanted to turn A Quiet Place down. The director spoke about why he was apprehensive to take the film, saying:

I said, 'I can't really do genre. I'm too scared.' They said, 'it's about a family that has to be quiet and you have to figure out why.' I thought, 'That's one of the best one-liners I've ever heard.'

The fact that A Quiet Place was a genre film, mixing horror and science fiction, is what had John Krasinski nervous about working on it. It's not terribly hard to see why either given his past projects. Minus a few animated kids films, John Krasinski has mostly acted in comedies, dramas and some action movies, with his most popular role being Jim in The Office TV series. A Quiet Place represented such a stark departure from what he's known for and what he's comfortable doing that he wanted to turn it down, as he said on a behind-the-scenes featurette on the upcoming home video release of the film previewed by THR. Fortunately, producers Brad Fuller and Andrew Form gave him a killer pitch (although many studio execs didn't get it) on the high-concept film that sold him on it, so much so that John Krasinski couldn't settle for just starring in A Quiet Place; he had to write and direct it as well.

Considering that he was worried about the film and wanted to turn it down, I think horror fans can be thankful that John Krasinski took the gig, because he actually had a huge effect on the end product. The initial script called for flashbacks and more talking among the characters, both of which would have affected the dramatic tension of the film and diminished the impact of sound that was so critical to the story and how audiences experience it. When John Krasinski was brought aboard, he changed all that and delivered the masterclass in tension and gauntlet of theater etiquette the film ended up being. Thanks to Brad Fuller and Andrew Form's pitch, and John Krasinski taking a chance, we have a modern horror classic and one that is spawning a sequel film. John Krasinski even has a few ideas where A Quiet Place 2 could take the story.

A Quiet Place is available on Digital HD on June 26 and hits physical formats, including 4K Ultra HD, on July 10. You can next see John Krasinski as CIA Analyst Jack Ryan in the Amazon Prime original series, Jack Ryan, premiering August 31.