‘A Quiet Place Part II’ Gets Loud And Breaks Pandemic Box-Office Record

There’s no tip-toeing around it: “A Quiet Place Part II” opened with a bang at the box office, grossing a pandemic-best haul of $48 million over the holiday weekend, which saw moviegoers return to theaters in droves. 

The sequel to John Krasinski’s hit 2018 horror flick exceeded expectations to become the biggest domestic debut of a film released during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and is projected take in $58.5 million through Memorial Day on Monday, according to the film’s studio, Paramount.

“A Quiet Place Part II,” which stars a shotgun-wielding Emily Blunt as a woman who leads her family through a post-apocalyptic world infested with monsters, was forecast to open in the $40 million range, given the number of theaters across the country that are still shuttered or operating at a limited capacity. 

But the sequel has nearly bested the $50 million opening of the first film, which went on to earn $340 million worldwide, and has been viewed at 3,726 theaters currently playing the film across the country. 

The film now stands as the pandemic box-office king, easily toppling “Godzilla vs. Kong,” which pulled in $30 million over it’s three-day opening weekend and was simultaneously released on HBO Max as part of the streaming service’s much-contested deal with Warner Bros.

As this weekend’s sole release exclusively in theaters, “A Quiet Place Part II” is the biggest blockbuster to debut only on the big screen since “Tenet” opened back in September 2020. Many had hoped the Christopher Nolan-directed film would revitalize the struggling cinema industry at the time, but it went on to become one of the most high-profile, pandemic-era box-office bombs.

Disney’s “Cruella” also managed to pull in some promising numbers. The live-action reimagining of the iconic villain starring Emma Stone is expected to bring in an estimated $26.5 million over the four-day holiday weekend, despite the film also being made available for subscribers of the studio’s streaming service.

“A Quiet Place Part II” was initially set to be released in March of last year before the pandemic upended the entertainment industry, and the film bounced around Paramount’s release schedule. When the sequel was first postponed, Krasinski said he’d rather delay the film indefinitely than not have people experience it together in the theater.

“One of the things I’m most proud of is that people have said our movie is one you have to see all together,” he said in a social media statement at the time. “Well due to the ever-changing circumstances of what’s not going on around us now is clearly not the right time to do that. As insanely excited as we all are for you to see this movie, I’m going to wait to release the film until we can all see it together. So here’s to our group movie date. See you soon!”

But fans will be able to watch the sequel at home before too long, as “A Quiet Place Part II” will soon head to the studio’s steaming service, Paramount+, after a 45-day theatrical release window.