Last December, Netflix released a little movie by the name of Bird Box that ended up taking the internet by storm. Thanks to the viral response to the movie, author Josh Malerman has announced he’s penning a follow-up to the original novel that inspired the movie. Titled Malorie, the second book in the series will follow the main character — you know, the character Sandra Bullock plays — some eight years after the first book ended.
Malerman says that while many fans want to see what happens with Boy and Girl, the Bird Box story is by and large something focusing on the life and times of Malorie. Speaking with Esquire, Malerman says that he wants the sequel to really flesh out the lead, saying his daughter helped provide inspiration for the sequel.
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“In the time between Bird Box coming out and the time since I’ve been writing Malorie, I’ve been asked a ton of times: people want to know what happened with Boy and Girl,” Malerman recalls. “But as much as I care about Boy and Girl, this isn’t their story. The Bird Box world is Malorie’s story, and I wanted to know more about her.”
“I wanted to get to know her even better. At the end of the movie, I turned to my girl Allison and said, ‘I want to know what happens next!’ and she’s like, ‘Well, you know, you could make that happen,’ so it really was this warm feeling.”
When it comes to the Netflix hit, Malerman is nothing short of thankful. The novelist says it’s surreal to see people react to the movie he wrote half a decade ago.
“The book came out in 2014, and this movie comes out and it erupts,” he says. “So from my angle, it’s especially almost fantastical to see these characters I’ve been with since 2006 on the screen and in memes and on the cover of the book. It’s flattering, it’s an honor, it’s surreal… It’s really something else, man.
It’s unclear whether or Netflix has movie rights to the entire franchise or if Bird Box was just a one-off acquisition. Regardless, one would think that after the stand-out success of the first movie, the streaming giant is almost certainly considering doing a follow-up of their own.
Bird Box is now streaming on Netflix while Malorie is set to hit bookshelves on October 10th.
Where do you think the franchise can go from here? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
