I was doing backflips over Jeff Nichols quitting “A Quiet Place: Part III” last October. Deadline had reported a few months back that Paramount hired Nichols to write and direct the third film in the “A Quiet Place” franchise. Actor-filmmaker John Krasinski helmed the first two.
My understanding then was that Nichols coming into this franchise basically meant that opportunities to make personal arthouse films were scarce. The director of “Midnight Special,” “Take Shelter,” “Mud,” and “Loving,” surely deserved better than this.
Finally, Nichols has left the franchise amicably. He probably figured it wasn’t up to his talents. Now, he was recently interviewed at Cannes, and is saying that he's close to directing another film again, and plans to shoot it in fall:
I came out of my tour exhausted to accompany Loving. My creative juices were running low. I needed some time to breathe before I got back to writing. I then spent three years writing a science fiction film that was financed by Fox. Everything was set, from the budget to the casting. But Disney bought Fox and nipped the project in the bud. I put it aside for a while to digest, but I'm working on it again now and I hope it will happen one day. Right now, I'm preparing to shoot an original script in the fall. I'm very excited because I couldn't be more ready to make a movie again, and this one in particular: I've been thinking about it for twenty years. We are currently finalizing the casting.
It’s been 5 years since “Loving.” Nichols is coming off the longest break of his career. We are not quite sure what this latest one is going to be about, but that it is definitely not the rumored sci-fi film he was working on with Paramount. If this latest original script starts shooting in the fall then my best guess is a Cannes 2023 debut.