EXCLUSIVE: Paramount Pictures is broadening its A Quiet Place franchise. The studio has set Jeff Nichols to write and direct the third film, which is based on an original idea by John Kraskinski. Studio has set a 2022 release date. Krasinski co-wrote and directed the original, and wrote and directed the sequel, which was pushed from its March 20 release date by the COVID lockdown, with Paramount slating for an April 23, 2021 release.

They are keeping the details of the plot under wraps, but I would not be surprised if this was not a straight sequel, but rather broadened the world that the original introduced, plopping viewers in a post-apocalyptic world where survivors are struggling to stay alive by being quiet, as monsters with ultra sensitive hearing hunt them. The movie progressed so quickly you barely had time to ask how the world got that way, and whether the creatures might be defeated. So there’s plenty of room creatively to stretch this out.

Paramount has just put an untitled A Quiet Place movie on the calendar for March 31, 2023. This is the one that Jeff Nichols is writing and directing, and which Deadline first told you about. It’s not a threequel, but rather based on an idea from John Krasinski.

The pic is very early in development and simply being billed as the next installment, broadening the post-apocalyptic world introduced in the first two movies.

EXCLUSIVE: With Jeff Nichols leaving the project in October, Paramount Pictures has moved fast on his replacement and looks to have found one of the more sought-after rising stars in town. Sources tell Deadline that Pig director Michael Sarnoski is in negotiations to helm the untitled next installment in A Quiet Place franchise.

Not much more is known about this project other than it not being a threequel but rather a spinoff, based on an idea from John Krasinski, who directed and starred in the first two films. The hope is this film would help set up a potential Quiet Place universe that the studio can build on for years to come. It is also known that, while not out of the question, Emily Blunt and Krasinski likely would not reprise their roles in this installment.

Michael Bay, Andrew Form and Brad Fuller will produce via Platinum Dunes alongside Krasinski via his Sunday Night banner with partner, Allyson Seeger, who serves as executive producer. A Quiet Place Part II, the first post-pandemic theatrical-only release, opened to $57 million at the domestic box office, has earned $297 million worldwide and garnered a 91% Rotten Tomatoes score.

Sources say after recently seeing Pig and being blown away by the film, Krasinski was quick to put Sarnoski on the short list of directors to take a meeting for the project. While insiders say Sarnoski vision for the film was still his own and different from what Krasinski had done with the first two, he still gave a pitch that fit the tone of the world they had created and felt he was the perfect fit for their next installment.

As for Pig, that film, released last year and has not only put Sarnoski on the map in the directors scene but has garnered some awards attention especially for its star, Nicolas Cage, who is in the discussion as a possible Oscar nominee.

The film has a 97% on Rotten Tomatoes and Sarnoski received the 2021 National Board of Review Award for Best Directorial Debut , as well as a nomination for Best Feature at the Gotham Awards. Michael was also recently nominated for the Independent Spirit Awards’ Someone To Watch Award in addition to best first screenplay, along with a dozens of critics association noms and wins.

He is repped by WME, MGMT Entertainment and attorney Derek Kroeger.

During a sizzle reel at CinemaCon, Paramount Pictures announced that its upcoming spinoff of the hit horror films “A Quiet Place” will be titled “A Quiet Place: Day One.”

The film is separate from the next chapter of the main series, “A Quiet Place — Part III,” which is expected to see John Krasinski return as director with the cast led by Emily Blunt and will be released in 2025.

“A Quiet Place: Day One” will be directed by “Pig” filmmaker Michael Sarnoski, who took over after Jeff Nichols exited the project. The film’s cast and plot are still under wraps, but the title suggests that the spinoff will follow a new group of survivors during the earliest days of the invasion of alien creatures who can detect the slightest noise. The first moments of that invasion were shown in the opening scenes of “A Quiet Place — Part II” last year. The film is set for release on September 22, 2023.

“A Quiet Place: Day One,” which had previously been untitled, will hit theaters on March 8, 2024. The Michael Sarnoski-directed horror film had been set to bow on Sept. 22, 2023.

EXCLUSIVE: As she readies to make her return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Lupita Nyong’o is looking to make the jump to another popular franchise: Sources tell Deadline that she is in final negotiations to star in Paramount’s A Quiet Place: Day One. The spinoff will be directed by Pig helmer Michael Sarnoski.

Not much more is known about this project other than it not being a threequel but rather a spinoff, based on an idea from John Krasinski, who directed and starred in the first two films. The hope is this film will help set up a potential Quiet Place universe that the studio can build on for years to come. It also is known that, while not out of the question, Emily Blunt and Krasinski likely won’t reprise their roles in this installment. The film is set to bow on March 8, 2024.