‘A Quiet Place: Day One’ Casts ‘Black Panther’ Star to Lead

The first A Quiet Place spin-off will have the necessary star power to draw in audiences. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever star Lupita Nyong’o will reportedly star in A Quiet Place: Day One. The film will be written and directed by Michael Sarnoski, who directed Nicolas Cage in Pig.

Nyong’o is in “final negotiations” to star in Day One, Deadline reported Tuesday. Not much else is known about the film, although its title suggests it could be set before the events in the first A Quiet Place movie. John Krasinski, the lead creative force of the franchise, came up with the original idea for the spinoff. Paramount hopes that Day One could be used to launch other films set in the same universe. Day One is scheduled for March 8, 2024.

The first A Quiet Place film hit theaters in 2018 and was a surprise smash hit, grossing over $350 million on a $17 million budget. The story is set in a post-apocalyptic U.S., where sightless aliens with incredible hearing have taken over. Evelyn (Emily Blunt), Lee (Krasinski), and their children (Noah Jupe and Millicent Simmonds) are some of the last surviving humans who use American Sign Language to communicate. Scott Beck and Bryan Woods wrote the story and collaborated with Krasinski on the screenplay.

Krasinski wrote and directed A Quiet Place Part II, which was scheduled to hit theaters in 2020. Despite being delayed by over a year due to the coronavirus pandemic, Part II was also a big hit, grossing $297.4 million. In February, Krasinski announced that A Quiet Place Part III is in development and will hit theaters in 2025.

Michael Bay, Andrew Form, and Brad Fuller will produce both Day One and Part III via Platinum Dunes with Krasinski under his Saturday Night banner. Krasinski’s producing partner Allyson Seeger will be an executive producer on both projects. Before Krasinski makes Part III, he will finish up work on If, which co-stars Ryan Reynolds and is set to open on May 24, 2024.

Nyong’o shot to fame after winning an Oscar for her first film, 12 Years a Slave. Since then, she has been heavily involved in big-budget Disney projects, including the Star Wars sequels and The Jungle Book remake. She also stars as Nakia in Black Panther, a role she is reprising in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. The film opens on Nov. 11. Nyong’o also won acclaim for her performance in Jordan Peele’s horror film Us. The actress also has two Emmy nominations for narrating Discovery’s documentary series Serengeti.