@John Krasinski
Director John Krasinski has revealed more details about his upcoming feature film project titled IF (an acronym for “imaginary friends”). During Paramount’s presentation at CinemaCon in Las Vegas this week, he first gave attendees a sneak peek at A Quiet Place: Day One, the next installment of the franchise he created that will be directed by Michael Sarnoski.
After the presentation, he changed the subject to IF, joking he’d long wanted to make a movie his kids could watch before they turn 40. The idea for the film, he added, stemmed from his interest in the phenomenon of “imaginary friends” that children often have.
Krasinski said he’d been inspired by the films he’d enjoyed as a kid, including E.T. and Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.
To illustrate his point, Krasinski showed a short clip of IF, whose cast includes Ryan Reynolds, Fiona Shaw, Cailey Fleming, and Louis Gossett Jr. The clip also featured some of the voices in his cast, which already includes more than a dozen performers, including Matt Damon, Jon Stewart, Maya Rudolph, Sam Rockwell, Sebastian Maniscalco, Awkwafina, Ryan Reynolds, and Vince Vaughn. Krasinski’s wife Emily Blunt is also included in the list.
“This cast is insane,” Krasinski declared. “I know for a fact that I will never get a better cast.” The director said that IF is about a young girl who begins to connect with imaginary friends after suffering a traumatic experience. As Krasinski put it: “Imaginary friends are not just these adorable creations, they are time capsules for our hopes, dreams, ambitions. I wanted people to leave this movie believing in something bigger and believing in something beautiful.
It’s very real and it’s very possible.”
Ryan Reynolds, who plays a leading character in IF, said: “This is a movie that John and I have been talking about for years now. It feels like a live-action Pixar film.
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Krasinki wrote the script for the upcoming film, which is scheduled to debut on May 24, 2024.
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