Bird Box author Josh Malerman revealed Friday that a film adaptation of his upcoming Bird Box sequel Malorie is already in development.
The 44-year-old writer let the detail slip in a new interview with Inverse published Friday though he didn’t have much in the way of details considering how early the discussions are.
His own version of the sequel is set to be released on July 21.
In talks: Josh Malerman, who wrote the novel that became the hit Sandra Bullock film Bird Box for Netflix, revealed that his new sequel is already in development for a film adaptation; shown in December 2018
‘I can’t say much, but I can say that it is in development,’ Malerman said once the conversation turned to movies.
‘Sometimes it’s weird, all this secrecy, but I’m game,’ he added.
His first novel, Bird Box, was published in 2014 and was a hit with critics, but the Sandra Bullock–starring film for Netflix raised his profile considerably.
Going for it: ‘I can’t say much, but I can say that it is in development,’ Malerman said. ‘Sometimes it’s weird, all this secrecy, but I’m game’; Still from Bird Box
Big hit: His first novel, Bird Box, was published in 2014 and was a hit with critics, but the Sandra Bullock–starring film for Netflix raised his profile considerably; shown in December 2018
Netflix announced that the 2018 film was viewed by an astounding 45 million households within just its first seven days, giving it the most viewers in the timeframe for any Netflix release.
The streamer also claimed that 80 million households at watched Bird Box within its first four weeks online, though some industry figures criticized Netflix for a lack of clarity and oversight in how it reports viewership figures.
The film stars Bullock as Malorie, one of the survivors of a post-apocalyptic world in which ghastly creatures have begun haunting people.
Whenever someone glimpses the creatures they go insane and violently attack anyone nearby, or themselves.
Success: Netflix announced that the 2018 film was viewed by an astounding 45 million households within just its first seven days, giving it the most viewers in the timeframe for any Netflix release; Sandra Bullock shown in December 2018
Chilling: Sandra Bullock stars as Malorie, one of the survivors in a post-apocalyptic world where mysterious creatures drive people to murder and suicide if glimpsed; still from Bird Box
In order to protect against the new visitors, Malorie and other survivors must board up all the windows of a house hidden away from civilization, and they wear blindfolds whenever they have to stray outside.
The movie features a tense sequence in which Malorie and the two young children she’s shepherding have to cross a raging river while keeping their blindfolds on the whole time.
According to Malerman, Bullock’s moving portrayal of the character and the success of Bird Box inspired him to write a sequel to the novel, though it didn’t change his writing process.
‘It took about the same amount of time. I was also aware that there was a possibility that Sandra Bullock wouldn’t be playing Malorie,’ Malerman said.
‘When you first start writing novels, especially now, how do you not see them cinematically? We grew up on movies. So with Bird Box, I always saw it cinematically. It almost reads like stage directions. It felt the same writing Malorie, but I didn’t have Sandra Bullock in mind when I wrote the first one.’
Back at it: Malerman said Bullock’s portrayal of the character and the success of Bird Box inspired him to write a sequel to the novel; still from Bird Box
Not seeing it: Despite the inability of his characters to go outside without a blindfold, Malerman didn’t see much connection between his work and the coronavirus pandemic; Machine Gun Kelly in Bird Box
Despite the inability of his characters to go outside without a blindfold without dying, Malerman didn’t see much connection between his work and the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
‘You look out your window, you go mad,’ he said. ‘I can understand the links, but I’m hesitant to draw a parallel between a good scare and a bad scare.
‘But I understand that Bird Box would fit into this sort of lockdown life that we’re leading. I even had an odd moment where I was getting ready to leave the house and I was like, OK, I need my mask, and my gloves, and you can’t look outside. So even like I understand it. It fits in with today’s world.’