John Krasinski made a directing break-out with last year’s horror smash ‘A Quiet Place’, and followed that up with the sequel, due out next year. For his next picture, he is switching gears with a fantasy/comedy called ‘Imaginary Friends’ about a man, to be played by Ryan Reynolds, who can talk to people’s imaginary friends. Krasinski is set to write, direct, produce and co-star. This should be an easy transition for Krasinski who rocketed to fame starring on NBC’s hit sitcom ‘The Office’, and he directed three episodes of that show. Reynolds will also produce through his Maximum Effort banner.
Paramount is in final negotiations for this project, which was the subject of a bidding war thanks to the talent attached. Paramount reportedly beat out Sony and Lionsgate. Paramount is the studio that released ‘A Quiet Place’ and will release ‘A Quiet Place 2’ (or whatever it ends up being named), and it seems it was keen to keep Krasinski as part of its stable.
“[‘Imaginary Friends’ is] the tale of a man who can see and talk to people’s imaginary friends, befriending those that have been forgotten or discarded. However, some imaginary friends, lacking love and friendship, turn to the dark side, and it’s up to Reynolds’ character to save the world from those that become evil.”
Just last week, another Reynolds project was the subject of a bidding war, with Apple landing his musical remake of ‘A Christmas Carol’, co-starring Will Ferrell.
Reynolds will next be seen in Netflix’s ‘6 Underground’, directed by Michael Bay, which will be released on December 13. He will also star in another high-concept comedy, Shawn Levy’s ‘Free Guy’, due in theaters on July 3, 2020. And he has wrapped ‘The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard’, the sequel to his 2017 action-comedy with Samuel L. Jackson, but that picture doesn’t yet have a release date.
‘A Quiet Place 2’ is set to open on March 20, 2020. Krasinski will next be seen in the second season of Amazon Prime Video’s ‘Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan’ which premieres on November 1. That series has already been renewed for a third season.
Stay tuned for updates. What do you think of this comedy from Krasinski and Reynolds?
