How confident are Paramount Pictures and John Krasinski in their new family-friendly fantasy movie, “IF”? Well, for one, Krasinski was so inspired by the idea—which he wrote and presumably is inspired by his own children— he decided to put his “A Quiet Place” franchise aside for the minute to direct this story about imaginary friends (I.F., get it?). And for two, it has a prime summer release date of May 17, 2024, which means Paramount has huge confidence in it.
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What’s it about? A young girl discovers an ability to see people’s imaginary friends who have been abandoned by the kids they helped. Krasinski told Jimmy Fallon earlier this year that his wife, Emily Blunt, was dazzled by its lead Cailey Fleming from “The Walking Dead” and that might have given him the extra inspiration to seal the deal on this directing choice (“We got the best actress in the world,” he said at the time).
The film stars Ryan Reynolds, Krasinski, the aforementioned Cailey Fleming, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Louis Gossett Jr., Steve Carrell, Alan Kim, and Liza Colón-Zayas. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg; the voice-cast is stacked and also includes Matt Damon, Emily Blunt, Maya Rudolph, Vince Vaughn, Sam Rockwell, Sebastian Maniscalco, Christopher Meloni, Awkwafina, Jon Stewart, and Richard Jenkins, most of whom presumably play imaginary friends (who look like big cookie monster-like creatures from the looks of the poster and trailer). And yes, it’s on our list of the 100 Most Anticipated Films Of 2024
Here’s the official synopsis:
From writer and director John Krasinski, IF is about a girl who discovers that she can see everyone’s imaginary friends — and what she does with that superpower — as she embarks on a magical adventure to reconnect forgotten IFs with their kids. IF stars Ryan Reynolds, John Krasinski, Cailey Fleming, Fiona Shaw, and the voices of Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Louis Gossett Jr. and Steve Carell alongside many more as the wonderfully unique characters that reflect the incredible power of a child’s imagination.
“Yes, they are these adorable, fun ideas that kids have,” Krasinski told Fallon last year about what imaginary friends are at their core, “But really, they’re also time capsules for all of our ambitions, our hopes, and our dreams when we were kids, so the movie’s about, what if we could tap back into that?”
“IF” looks like part feel-good movie, part family film, and part entertaining creature CGI movie. Either way, we can now get a better look at what it’s all about from the new trailer below. “IF” rolls into theaters on May 17, 2024. Watch the trailer below.