Scott Beck, Bryan Woods and Steven Spielberg set to collaborate
The duo behind the Hugh Grant chiller Heretic and A Quiet Place are promising "a huge science fiction idea" with Spielberg in tow as producer
Reports have confirmed that Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, the duo behind the scripts for the first two A Quiet Place movies, have been hired by Universal to direct an upcoming sci-fi film, produced by Disclosure Day director and cinematic icon Steven Spielberg. There are yet to be any confirmed plot details, but sources have shared that the film will be ‘high concept’ with Kristie Macosko Krieger and Holly Bario also holding production credits.
The filmmaking duo previously shared that they have “this huge science-fiction idea that we’ve been sitting with for 10 or 12 years now, and that idea won’t go away,” and now may be getting the project off the ground with one of America’s filmmaking giants.
“We just love swinging into different sides of the industry pendulum, going from A Quiet Place, this small contained horror idea (Heretic), to 65, which is bigger,” the pair added. “But then swinging so far in the opposite direction with verbose dialogue and something really performance-centric.”
In 2024, Beck and Woods directed the critically acclaimed chiller Heretic, a Hugh Grant-led psychological horror film also starring Sophie Thatcher and Chloe East. The film centres on two Mormon missionaries as they pay a home visit to a whimsical-appearing man expressing an interest in the LDS Church. However, as the visit draws on, the girls realise they may be in terrible danger due to the homeowner’s true nature. Heretic grossed a worldwide box office total of $60 million from a budget of $1o million, as well as earning four award nods for Grant’s performance and Beck and Woods‘ writing.
Before that, in 2018, Beck and Woods scripted A Quiet Place, which was directed by and starred John Krasinski. He appeared alongside his real-life spouse, Emily Blunt, as they depicted a couple fighting to keep their family safe in a post-apocalyptic world where sound-sensitive aliens have taken over, compelling any survivors to avoid making loud noises.
The film earned critical acclaim for its concept, presentation and thoughtful use of ASL, and it grossed $340 million worldwide from a $17 million budget. It was followed by the Beck and Woods-scripted sequel A Quiet Place: Part II in 2021 and a spin-off prequel, A Quiet Place: Day One in 2024. The latter was directed by Michael Sarnoski, who also wrote the script with John Krasinski, and starred Lupita Nyong’o and Joseph Quinn. A Quiet Place: Part III, again scripted and directed by Krasinski, is due for release in July 2027.
Meanwhile, Spielberg has just released Disclosure Day, a sci-fi thriller featuring an ensemble cast of Blunt, Josh O’Connor, Colin Firth, Eve Hewson, and Colman Domingo. The film narrates a meteorologist and a cybersecurity expert racing against the government to unlock the mystery of a strange extraterrestrial language as the world borders a third world war. Disclosure Day has currently grossed $160.4 million worldwide.
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