A ‘Bird Box’ Sequel Is On Its Way This Fall — As A Book
Time to open up theBird Boxuniverse again. AfterJosh Malerman’s 2014 post-apocalyptic thriller novel inspired the Netflix mega-hit starringSandra Bullockand that life-threatening viral “challenge,” we’re getting aBird Boxsequel this fall. But wait a bit before you stumble blindly toward Netflix’s homepage — this is a sequel book written by Malerman, who confirmed that his next post-apocalyptic “Bird Boxnovel,” titledMalorie, will be hitting bookshelves in October.
In an interview withEsquire,Bird BoxauthorJosh Malermanconfirmed that his novel in theBird Boxpost-apocalyptic universe will be published on October 1. TheBird Boxsequel, titledMalorie, will focus on the first book’s main character, who is played in the Susanne Bier film by Sandra Bullock. Malerman admitted to Esquire, as part of a promotional interview for his new novelInspectioncoming this week, that it was watching the Netflix film adaptation that convinced him to write a sequel novel:
Bullock’s performance inBird Boxearned raves from critics as well as introduced the Oscar-winning actressto a few Gen Z-erswho bafflingly have never been exposed to her career-defining performances inSpeedorMiss Congeniality.(Not evenThe Proposal?!) But of course, Bullock’s character was also the inspiration for the “Bird Boxchallenge” in which children endanger their lives by running around blindfoldedfor the clicks. Netflix can tout its success withviewing numbersforBird Boxall it wants, but all it succeeded in doing was make me feel old.
But blindfold or not, Bullock’s Malorie did resonate with viewers, and with Malerman in particular. “In the time betweenBird Boxcoming out and the time since I’ve been writingMalorie, I’ve been asked a ton of times: people want to know what happened with Boy and Girl,” he said to Esquire. “But as much as I care about Boy and Girl, this isn’t their story. TheBird Boxworld is Malorie’s story, and I wanted to know more about her.”
It’s also possible that Netflix’s money, in addition to Bullock’s performance, inspired Malerman to writeMalorie, as the streaming giant is fond of developing sequels to its biggest original hits. WithMalorieset to hit bookshelves onOctober 1, 2019, I wouldn’t be surprised if a Netflix feature film sequel would follow soon after.
