Seeing as John Krasinski might strike many of you, including me, as the strong silent type, we should’ve figured A Quiet Place would’ve been the smash hit that it was. Even though Paramount Pictures Chairman and CEO Jim Gianopulos – much like a majority of moviegoers, I’m sure – never would’ve figured “the very funny guy Jim from The Office” would star in a highly successful silent horror.
Now, having earned an astonishing $328 million at the worldwide box office – on a production budget of just $17 million, mind you – and a breathtaking 95% certified fresh score on the Tomatometer, the triumph of A Quiet Place, predictably, culminated in the form of a sequel being announed earlier this year. What you might not be aware of, though, is the long and arduous process it took to bring the film’s extraterrestrials to life.
For those of you who don’t know, the pic arrived on home video today and brought with it a slew of special features. One of the more intriguing of which sees production team leader, Jeffery Beecroft, and concept artist, Luis Carrasco – amongst others – discuss the lengthy undertaking of bringing these creatures from concept to materialization. And seen in the gallery below are some early designs they toyed around with.
According to the crew, Krasinski was adamant “the creatures have flaps on their heads” and even took inspiration from prehistoric fish. Although, his main request to visual effects supervisor Scott Farrar was to keep their appearance in the film to a minimum, which would ultimately force the audience to fill in the blank.
Coincidentally enough, this bit of news comes mere weeks after arguably the name in horror right now, Jason Blum, revealed he wouldn’t have been able to make A Quiet Place work, chiefly because of the extensive creature effects featured in the motion picture. Guess it’s a good thing he didn’t take on the project then, eh?
