Joseph Quinn says horror prequel A Quiet Place: Day One is very different from the original movies

A Quiet Place: Day One brings noise into the near-silent franchise. The prequel set on the first day of the invasion takes the audience back to the moment it all began in New York City as a normal day turns quiet. 

This hushed approach means that while the prequel shares a title with the original two movies helmed by John Krasinski, it’s quite a different beast. And for Stranger Things star Joseph Quinn, this was part of the allure of joining the horror franchise. 

“The first two films are far more contained, it’s a more rural aesthetic and led by this family dynamic,” he tells GamesRadar+ and the Inside Total Film podcast. “For this one, we’re in New York City, which is a pretty loud spot and we’re watching a society and a city navigate this day one of the invasion, rather than a family.”

Quinn plays Eric in the prequel, who ends up meeting Lupita Nyong’o’s Sam while fleeing the alien invasion. The pair strike up a camaraderie as they try to find out what’s going on and survive the day. “It’s a familiar environment,” Quinn adds. “Audiences will be used to the premise, but it’s just a lot larger, and I guess louder. Until it’s not, then it’s even quieter…”

Despite its differences from the other movies though, Krasinski was still involved in bringing it to the big screen. He produced and co-wrote the story alongside director Michael Sarnoski, best known previously for helming the Nicolas Cage starrer Pig. Nyong’o had an early conversation with Krasinski, in which she says he explained why he wanted to expand the universe with a prequel. 

(Image credit: Paramount)

“He was the first person I talked to, and it wasn’t so much advice, but just telling me why he wanted to make another Quiet Place,” the Black Panther star adds. “He really wanted to expand. He was only interested in making another Quiet Place if it lent itself to a new lens, and expanded what the horror genre can do – and that’s why he passed the baton over to Michael Sarnoski to write and direct.”

The pair will be hoping that the new movie does just that, and after some glowing first reactions, it seems like a positive start for the franchise’s expansion. However, it’s not just Quinn and Nyong’o leading the cast this time around, as they’re joined by Alex Wolff, Djimon Hounsou, and of course Frodo the cat.

An early standout in the trailers, the cat has captured the heart of the internet mainly out of concern for the feline fighter. When we mention that we’re worried to Nyong’o she quips, “You should be,” before revealing that the process of working with a four-legged companion was quite a unique one.

“It was a growth spurt I went through making a movie with a cat,” she laughs. “I was afraid of cats before I started this process and I could not be in the same room as a cat in peace. So I had to really get over that. I got through cat therapy where I slowly worked my way towards trusting cats and by the end of it, I was madly in love with cats. Frodo did me a lot of good.”

A Quiet Place: Day One arrives in UK cinemas on June 27 and in US theaters on June 28. Listen to the full interview on the Inside Total Film podcast, out later this week. For more upcoming movies check out our guide to all the new horror movies on the way in 2024 and beyond.