IF - Release Date, Cast, Plot And More Info
Out of all the ways John Krasinski could've followed up his success on the monster horror franchise "A Quiet Place," I don't think anyone foresaw him combining his powers with those of Ryan Reynolds for a high-concept fantasy about imaginary friends. What's more, the marketing for "IF" — a title that has surely already caused no small amount of grief for SEO analysts — has been somewhat miraculously snark-free. In point of fact, it's hard to watch its trailers without waiting for Reynolds to abruptly knock against the fourth wall or quip about the giant purple creature voiced by Steve Carell. Yet, even in a Super Bowl preview cheekily throwing it back to one of Krasinski's most memorable pranks as Jim on "The Office," the joke is never on the film itself.
"A Quiet Place" and its sequel, for as much suspension of disbelief as they required to buy into their blind, sound-sensitive alien invaders, were never anything less than sincere, so perhaps this should come as less of a surprise. Krasinski even seems to have gotten a shockingly unaffected performance from Reynolds, who comes across less as his usual sarcastic self in the "IF" trailers and more like he's willing to operate on the film's level. Or maybe this is just me grasping at straws and hoping that Reynolds will actually try to be a character actor again. I'm not asking for a transformation on the level of Jim Carrey in "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind," but it would be nice to see Reynolds spread his wings for the first time in a while.
With "IF" making its way to theaters in just a few months, let's run down everything we know for certain about the film at this juncture.
When does IF premiere?
Before he suits up as Wade Wilson this summer in "Deadpool & Wolverine," Reynolds will be donning a pair of suspenders for his role in "IF." The film is scheduled to open theatrically on May 17, 2024, situating it right between "Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes" and "Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga." For the first time in a hot minute, these movies won't have a superhero blockbuster to worry about either, with the 1980s TV series adaptation "The Fall Guy" getting the summer movie season underway at the start of the month.
That's an unconventional tentpole lineup for May, but then again, 2024 is a pretty unorthodox year thanks to studios revamping their release slates after last year's WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. (I mean, they could have simply reached a fair deal with the guilds right from the start instead of dragging things out for six months, but why do something sensible like that?) This could very well play to the advantage of "IF," giving it a better chance to stand out with relatively lighter competition to deal with.
What are the plot details of IF?
From the moment Paramount screened the first "IF" footage for those attending last year's CinemaCon, the joke that it's a live-action "Foster's Home For Imaginary Friends" movie has written itself. Funnily enough, that's not an entirely inaccurate description, either. The film centers on a young girl who realizes she can see other people's imaginary friends. Not content to keep this to herself, she teams up with her neighbor — a grown man who possesses the same ability — on a grand adventure to reunite these "IFs" with the former kids who've forgotten them.
The metaphor of adults reconnecting with their childhood imagination is about as straightforward as they come here, but it's not like "A Quiet Place" was ever anything but upfront about its themes of family and communication; it was the film's willingness to wear its heart on its sleeve that made its storytelling sing. If Krasinski can achieve a similar mix of spectacle and wholesomeness here, then he might just have another winner on his hands.
Who is in the cast of IF?
As with "A Quiet Place," Krasinski is both directing and acting in "IF," with Reynolds and Cailey Fleming (Judith Grimes in "The Walking Dead") playing the film's leads. The rest of the cast is an astonishing lineup of talent, with Fiona Shaw, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Louis Gossett Jr., Emily Blunt (who is married to Krasinski), Matt Damon, Maya Rudolph, Jon Stewart, Bobby Moynihan, Sam Rockwell, Sebastian Maniscalco, Christopher Meloni, Richard Jenkins, Awkwafina, and Steve Carell on board.
Those hoping for a full-blown "Office" reunion will want to temper those expectations; Carell is only voicing the aforementioned furry purple IF, who is somewhat confusingly named Blue. (Or maybe it'll turn out we've all been secretly color-blind this entire time.) To that same point, most of the "IF" cast are lending their voices to the film's imaginary friends and not showing up in the flesh. Still, even with that caveat, this movie has enough star power to almost rival Barbenheimer.
Who is writing, producing, and directing IF?
There are filmmakers who delegate as much as possible and then there are those who try to do as much as they can by themselves. Krasinski is one of the latter, as he's both directing and writing "IF" in addition to producing. Reynolds is also among the film's producers, as are "A Quiet Place" alums Andrew Form and Allyson Seeger (the latter of whom likewise executive-produced Krasinski's Prime Video series "Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan").
Reynolds being a producer is worth unpacking a little. He hasn't produced all of his films lately (for example, he was an actor only on "Red Notice"), but he does tend to back those that either come off feeling tailored to his "brand" or where he's the honest-to-goodness auteur, like the "Deadpool" films. It's what makes "IF" an outlier on his resume, as most signs point to this being a passion project for Krasinski and not one where Reynolds is the principal creative force. Hopefully, that's another sign this will be something of a mold-breaker for the actor.
Has IF released a trailer?
The "IF" trailer doesn't get bogged down in explaining the plot or even who the main characters are, instead letting the visuals of the movie's imaginary friends — fantastical beings who vary from anthropomorphic fruit to teddy bears and a flaming marshmallow — do the talking. We can safely assume nobody's going to confuse this one with that other film about imaginary friends coming out in 2024, although it's hard to tell precisely what Krasinski is going for here. Is this mostly just a kids' movie with Reynolds along for the ride to help keep the parents entertained? Or is this a work of earnest whimsy whose bright and bubbly surface belies a deeper and more profound message like "Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium"?
If you're skeptical the giant purple guy movie could have some real depth, just remember: The last time a major movie featured an imaginary friend with a colorful, puzzling design, it left us all bawling our eyes out afterwards.