Yahoo Movies How Bird Box 2 could happen
Bird Box was a huge hit for Netflix over the 2018 festive season, delivering a record-breaking first seven days. The post-apocalyptic horror stars Sandra Bullock as Malorie, a survivor who has to undertake a perilous journey blindfolded to save her two children from a mysterious force that kills anyone who sees it.
Fans have been hoping for a sequel, especially given the film's success, and it wouldn' tbe the first time Netflix has given its Original movies a follow up. However, it's been quite a while since Bird Box debuted, and there hasn't been a whisper of a sequel.
That doesn't mean it will never happen — after all, it took over three decades for Top Gun to get a sequel, so who knows! But if Bird Box 2 does get green-lit, here's what we can expect, and what we can guess, will happen.
Bird Box explained: How does it set up a sequel?
If you're after a more in-depth analysis of Bird Box and its mysteries, we've got one for you right here, but we're more concerned here with its actual ending.
The movie ends with Malorie and her two children (well, one's hers and one's basically adopted) making it to Rick's sanctuary to discover it's a school for the blind. It's protected by birds who can sense when the force is nearby and can warn all the sighted people at the school.
Related: Netflix's Bird Box explained
So, if it wanted to, a sequel could well go the tried-and-trusted route of the sanctuary turning out to not be as safe as Malorie thought. Equally, some terrible event could hit and force Malorie and the remaining survivors to go out into the world again.
Neither idea particularly inspires us, but it's a direction any potential sequel could take.
Bird Box 2 plot: What else could it be about?
One of the most common complaints (rightly or wrongly) about Bird Box is that we're not really offered much of an explanation about the force itself.
Its origins could be explored in a standalone sequel that takes us right back to the beginning of the outbreak, potentially focusing on another bunch of people as they investigate what's happening and why. This would be a way of Netflix continuing the world of Bird Box if Sandra Bullock didn't want to return as Malorie.
It would be a bit like Cloverfield where the sequels – 10 Cloverfield Lane and The Cloverfield Paradox – are connected to the original movie, but only loosely, and are more concerned with expanding the mythology of it.
However, there was an interesting development since the release of the first movie as Bird Box author Josh Malerman is working on a book sequel called Malorie.
"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. But as much as I care about Boy and Girl, this isn't their story," he explained.
"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."
The book ended in a slightly different way to the movie, so it would take a little bit of adjusting to directly adapt the new book, but it's easily achieved.
Bird Box 2 cast: Who could come back?
There were a lot of deaths in Bird Box, which limits the number of stars who could reprise their roles.
A direct sequel would have to bring back Sandra Bullock as Malorie, alongside Pruitt Taylor Vince as the sanctuary's leader Rick and – after her surprise return – Parminder Nagra as Dr Lapham.
Vivien Lyra Blair and Julian Edwards played Girl and Boy, now known as Olympia and Tom, but if there's any form of time jump in the sequel, those roles could be recast.
If Netflix wanted to bring back Trevante Rhodes as Tom, the only option would be to have flashbacks of the five years Malorie and Tom spent together, before he sacrificed himself to save Malorie and the two children.
There could also be potential returns for Machine Gun Kelly and Rosa Salazar as Felix and Lucy, respectively, as the two were last seen leaving the safe house in the past timeline and we don't know if they survived.
Director Susanne Bier revealed that she believes the pair were heading to the grocery store, but won't say anything else. "I think that that's where they wanna go, but I actually think it's quite exciting that we don't know exactly where they went," she explained.
Bird Box 2 release date: When could we expect it?
Despite Universal initially optioning the rights to the novel in 2013 before its release, it took until 2017 for Netflix to acquire the rights for the movie to start happening for real.
Related: How Bird Box has changed the way Netflix works
Bird Box started filming in October 2017 and premiered at AFI Fest on November 12, 2018 before hitting Netflix on December 21, 2018. A similar timeframe would mean that if Netflix had capitalised on the movie's success and greenlit a sequel, we would have expected it by mid-2020.
Ah, but look where we are now! Mid-2020 has come and gone and though most films have been impacted by the general state of the world, there were no developments on a sequel to be impacted.
So essentially, your guess is as good as anyone else's.
Bird Box 2 trailer: When will it land?
Nothing to see here, much like Malorie when she's out in the open. Just rewatch Bird Box until we hear anything (see what we did there?).
Bird Box is available to watch on Netflix.
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