Could movie theaters be back?

The roaring success of A Quiet Place Part II, the sequel of John Krasinski’s unnervingly silent horror blockbuster, indicates they just might be.

After more than a year of the Covid-19 pandemic — which shuttered restaurants, bars, movie theaters, and almost anywhere that provided a safe space for a bunch of strangers to spew respiratory particles at each other — the United States has opened up. As millions get vaccinated against the coronavirus and deaths from the virus plummet, Americans look ready to return to the movies. In many theaters, vaccinated Americans are no longer required to wear face masks, and states are loosening capacity restrictions.

A Quiet Place Part II, which opened exclusively in theaters on May 28 (no streaming yet), drew a whopping $57 million over Memorial Day weekend.

The film, starring Emily Blunt and the (always welcome) addition of Cillian Murphy, grossed an additional $22 million internationally.

That’s enough to establish the Quiet Place sequel as the biggest box office debut of the pandemic. Godzilla vs. Kong, released at the end of March, pulled in $30 million.

What is so staggering about those numbers, as Variety notes, is that they are about what A Quiet Place Part II was expected to make in March 2020, before the pandemic pushed back its release.

The Paramount picture has also fared well in the eyes of the critics: it boasts a 90% rating from Rotten Tomatoes.

The original Quiet Place, which starred Krasinski and Blunt, made $50 million in its opening weekend in 2018, and went on to gross more than $188 million.

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