‘Annihilation’ Director Has No Interest in Making a Sequel

Annihilation debuted in February to rave reviews and quickly became an instant favorite amongst both sci-fi and horror fans. However, despite the adoration the film has received over the last few months, director Alex Garland is making it clear that he has no interest in a follow-up effort.

Garland, who broke onto the scene as a director with his Oscar-winning debut Ex Machina in 2015, said numerous times throughout the production of Annihilation that he wasn’t looking to create a franchise. While speaking with IndieWire ahead of the film’s Blu-ray release, Garland reiterated those sentiments once more.

“When the thing is done, I am done with it,” Garland said. “I instantly start moving on, so I don’t even have an opinion on an Annihilation sequel. All the way through I was clear with everyone, from the studio to the cast, I told everyone that I didn’t really see it as part of a franchise. My goal was to make this film and do the best job I can. I didn’t even conceptualize it as the start of a trilogy. Sequels are just not something I’m interested in doing. It’s like when you don’t like steak, you don’t make the decision not to eat steak, you just don’t eat steak. I just don’t do sequels.”

While fans of Garland’s work won’t be surprised by this news, those who read the original Annihilation novel from Jeff VanderMeer might be caught off-guard. The book is just the first part of a series called Southern Reach Trilogy, which also includes Authority and Acceptance. Garland noted during the press tour for Annihilation that his film was only a loose interpretation of the source material, and he didn’t read the other two books when working on his adaptation.

Even though Garland doesn’t want any part of a sequel, there’s always a chance that the studio could hire someone else to enter the franchise and take his place.

“I’ve got no objection to someone else doing that,” Garland told IndieWire, “but I’m not interested in a sequel. I feel like we made this movie and this is the movie we made.”

Were you hoping to see a sequel to Annihilation? Or are you glad Alex Garland is taking a stand and keeping his film from becoming a franchise? Let us know what you think by dropping a line in the comments below!

Annihilation is now available to own on Blu-ray, DVD, and Digital HD.