A Quiet Place Part II is off to an 'amazing' start at the box office

It's been a mostly quiet year at the box office thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic. But Hollywood is hoping that's about to change in a big way — starting this weekend with a little help from John Krasinski.

Krasinski's horror sequel A Quiet Place Part II, which was delayed from March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, is finally out in theaters this weekend, and it had a strong debut in Thursday previews. The film grossed $4.8 million domestically on Thursday night, which Deadline described as an "amazing start." After all, despite the pandemic, that's above the $4.3 million the original A Quiet Place grossed on Thursday night in April 2018. That film went on to take in $50 million in its opening weekend.

Especially given that not all theaters in the U.S. are actually open yet, Forbes wrote it's "remarkable" that A Quiet Place Part II still had a stronger Thursday than a predecessor released in normal times, while noting that audiences tend to rush out to see sequels sooner than with the original film. Paramount is eying a four-day Memorial Day debut of more than $30 million, per Deadline, though projections previously suggested it could gross as much as $50 million.

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This comes after Godzilla vs. Kong impressed box office analysts in March by taking in $48 million over five days, which is still the record for the biggest movie debut since March 2020. Is A Quiet Place Part II about to best that, signaling a triumphant return for movie theaters for the first proper summer movie season since 2019? Based on these Thursday night grosses alone, it sure seems plenty of moviegoers are eager to return — and they're making their voices heard loud and clear.