Netflix is in development on Bird Box 2, a sequel to the horror-thriller starring Sandra Bullock. Bird Box was a runaway hit for the streaming service when it premiered in 2018. The screenplay by Eric Heisserer was based on a 2014 novel of the same name by Josh Malerman and followed a similar story trajectory. Bullock stars as Malorie Hayes, who navigates the dangers of a post-apocalyptic world while trying to keep herself and two children safe from creatures with the terrifying ability to make a person kill themselves on sight.
Bird Box follows Malorie in two timelines separated by five years, which eventually converge in the present. Throughout the film, in the present, she’s accompanied by two children, later revealed to be named Tom and Olympia. The monsters are theorized to be some type of demonic creature taking the forms of a victim’s worst fears and driving them to suicide. The best remedy against them is to blindfold yourself to avoid seeing their horrific visage. Eventually, Malorie, Tom, and Olympia make it to a former school for the blind hidden away in the forest, where they appear to be safe, for now.
Inverse spoke to Malerman about Malorie, and the author let it slip that Netflix is currently in development on a Bird Box 2. The author doesn’t say much else but considering he’s promoting his sequel novel, it’s probably a safe bet to say the author’s work will at least inspire the movie.
“I can’t say much, but I can say that it is in development. Sometimes it’s weird, all this secrecy, but I’m game.”
Fans looking for hints to what the Bird Box 2 might be about should look to the sequel novel, Malorie. The novel isn’t available until July 21, 2020, but the synopsis for the book contains some intriguing revelations about Malorie’s future and hints at what the movie’s story could look like. For starters, the sequel novel takes place twelve years after the events of the original, making Malorie’s kids teenagers. Then there’s the tease that “someone very dear to her, someone she believed dead, may be alive.” While that could be a hint that someone who interacted with Malorie in the first book didn’t meet the demise she thought they did, it might also point to a character audiences have yet to meet. The biggest revelation in the sequel’s synopsis relates to the monsters themselves, suggesting that they’ve “changed into something even more frightening.”
All this feels like perfect fodder for Netflix’s Bird Box 2. Unless the filmmakers decide to take things in a drastically different direction, it stands to reason they’ll go back to the source material when crafting their film adaptation. The only other issue could be if Sandra Bullock decides she doesn’t want to be involved with the franchise anymore, which would throw a massive wrench into any plans to faithfully adapt Malorie into Bird Box 2.
Netflix has made no official announcement regarding Bird Box 2, but Malerman’s admission of development having begun could motivate the streaming service to make a statement sometime soon. Regardless of when they decide to make an official announcement, Malerman’s confirmation that things are moving forward on the movie adaptation of his novel comes at the perfect time for fans to rush out and pick up a copy of the sequel.
