Taking on a prequel, one that just so happens to be the third installment in a franchise, is something that Lupita Nyong’o and Joseph Quinn were all game for in A Quiet Place: Day One.

What happens in ‘A Quiet Place: Day One’?

The film follows their characters, Sam and Eric, as they try to escape Manhattan, and the invasion of extraterrestrial creatures begins. It kicks off the aftermath in A Quiet Place and A Quiet Place Part II.

The two stars spoke to Blavity’s Shadow and Act recently about the new film and coming into it knowing how much the first films meant to people.

“I think when you’re entering something like this, you’re very aware of the devotion that the fan base have for this franchise,” Quinn said. “And coming into it, I think there was a little bit of, personally speaking, trepidation, a little bit of nerves, but also a lot of excitement. I was a big fan of the previous two installments. I watched the first one in the cinema and remember being riveted and very moved by it because the central characters within the film are so human. You watch the Abbott family negotiate this new terrifying reality. And I thought the prospect of this third installment being helmed by Michael Sarnoski, who did a brilliant film called Pig two years prior, and the idea that he would be able to take over this franchise and add something different to it, another flavor, another kind of spice if you were, so I was really excited by the prospect of it. So, I guess a short answer is nerves and excitement.”

John Krasinski, who starred in the first film and directed both the first and second, developed the story for this film with Sarnoski, who also wrote the screenplay.

How did the story of ‘A Quiet Place’ continue?

Nyong’o added, “It’s always unnerving to come later, right? But I think it was brilliant how John set it up. He did the first two films, and when I spoke to him about this one, he said, ‘I only want to continue this franchise, continue exploring this universe if we can do something new and different with it.’ So the first thing he did is give Michael Sarnoski the baton. And in his hands, he’s going to bring his flavor, his ideas to the table, and then you have new characters. So, I was encouraged by the fact that those two things would signal a different direction we were going to to an audience. And because this universe has so much space and fans have so many questions, it’s kind of brilliant because now there is another way for them to learn about the universe through these new characters in this new city, with these new stakes.”

Watch the full interview above.

The Paramount Pictures film is in theaters now.

A Quiet Place: Day One

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