From the looks of it, Krasinski’s follow-up sci-fi feature will bring another fantastic female lead to the big screen.
If A Quiet Place is anything to go by, sci-fi horror really suits John Krasinski‘s directorial sensibilities. It’s the kind of movie that gives jump scares a good name for a change, and the box office round-up earlier in the week proves that people are absolutely captivated by the Office alum’s newest directorial effort.
Between a strong and clever screenplay, fantastic sound design, and stellar performances across the board, A Quiet Place is an utterly rich experience that sucks the audience in and keeps them on the edge of their seat. Krasinski’s sci-fi horror hit now speaks to a potential longevity for him as a director, especially in these particular genres.
Hence, news that Krasinski’s next project (while not confirmed to be a directorial effort) will remain firmly within the realm of sci-fi should be enough to intrigue the masses, despite the fact that some key components about his follow-up have yet to fall into place. Thanks to The Hollywood Reporter, we know that the movie will be called Life on Mars and that it will be based on a short story by Cecil Castellucci. Krasinski and the Quiet Place production team — comprised of Michael Bay, Andrew Form, and Brad Fuller — are joining forces yet again for this project, while Paramount is negotiating to pick up the film. But there is no set screenwriter and obviously no talk of anyone starring in the film at this early stage. There could be a role for Krasinski in Life on Mars, but he has made no commitments in that regard so far.
Originally titled “We Have Always Lived on Mars,” Castellucci’s story focuses on a woman named Nina who — like a handful of others — was descended from Martian colonists who were abandoned far from Earth after a mysterious cataclysm. One day, Nina finds out that she is able to breathe the air on Mars, which excites her fellow colonists as they believe their efforts at terraforming the planet are finally paying off. However, this particular discovery leads Nina down the rabbit hole towards another more pressing question: what was the reason behind the cataclysm in the first place?
Already, Life on Mars seems like it will feature several similarities to A Quiet Place. Firstly, the film will have a female protagonist. Civilization on Earth has also apparently ended in “We Have Always Lived on Mars.” Colonists struggling on their last legs aren’t completely removed from a family trying to outsmart some extraterrestrial monsters — survival is still the name of the game. Finally, as it is already stated in a title like Life on Mars, the story will be about another planet, which could spell out even more unexpected horrors. This could mark the beginning of the John Krasinski Extended Cinematic Universe since the Quiet Place writers are also not opposed to putting together a sequel.
The fact that Life on Mars will be based on a Castellucci story is another reason to be excited about the adaptation. She has a knack for writing well-rounded girls and women. Her current comic run for DC’s Young Animal imprint, “Shade, the Changing Woman” (first titled “Shade, the Changing Girl”), showcases female characters who are never perfect, but their flaws make them feel more real and relatable and hence are far more interesting. Seeing as A Quiet Place does a great job of portraying its own female characters in empathetic, realistic, and powerful ways, Krasinski really could be the right person for the job of adapting the story.
Krasinski and the Quiet Place crew are already a winning combination, and they may have just landed on an ideal sophomore team effort.
Related Topics: John Krasinski
