Paramount Pictures is going all-in on filmmaker Jeff Nichols as they secured him to direct the third film in the successful “A Quiet Place” franchise with the first two installments helmed by actor-turned-director John Krasinski.
The studio wants even more genre material from Nichols, as Deadline reports he’s now attached to write and direct an untitled sci-fi movie. Adding that his “A Quiet Place” movie will begin production before this other project because it already has an official release date of March 23, 2023. We have to assume that the horror spinoff could begin shooting sometime between late 2021 or sometime in 2022.
READ MORE: Jeff Nichols’ Alien Nation Remake Becomes A Fox/Disney Merger Casualty & Is Now Shelved
Sadly, the report will leave us behind the curiosity door as plot details aren’t mentioned, and we’ll have to patient to learn more as they point out the untitled film is only in the early stages of development.
The director’s impressive credits include films such as “Shotgun Stories,” “Mud,” “Take Shelter,” “Midnight Special,” and the interracial marriage drama “Loving.”
Nichols was attempting to reboot the 1988 James Caan sci-fi buddy cop flick “Alien Nation” for 20th Century Fox with Michael Shannon attached for a lead role before the merger with the Walt Disney Company seemingly put it on the chopping-block alongside other high-profile sci-fi feature films such as the expensive comic book adaptation “Mouse Guard” and a new live-action incarnation of the swashbuckling cosmic hero “Flash Gordon.”
The filmmaker was hopeful he could repackage “Alien Nation” as a 10-episode series, pivoting to this idea wasn’t off-the-mark as the original film did spawn a short-lived series that aired on Fox between 1989-1990.
However, signing on to write and direct two high-profile feature film projects for Paramount Pictures would suggest Jeff Nichols might be too busy for something like “Alien Nation” if Disney and 20th Century Studios aren’t interested in his proposals.