Josh Malerman’s long-awaited Bird Box sequel is here.
Can it top the insanity of the original?
The staggering success of NetflixsSandra Bullock-starring 2018 movie adaptation inspired Malerman, 44, to write a sequel.
Illustration by Francesco Francavilla for EW
You cant go to band practice.
You cant go to that party.
You cant go and see that movie.
Del Rey
Somewhere in there, I thought, You cant look outside.
And then I was like, Wait wait wait, no no no.
Thats in your book.
Youve blurred your book and reality!"
Malerman says that the bulk of the new book takes place 12 years since they arrived at the school.
Malorie receives a list of survivors and on that list are names that she recognizes, says Malerman.
So begins a second enormous journey of Malories life.
The movie was everywhere, says Malerman.
It was like standing at the head of a wind tunnel.
It also changed something internally in terms of like, Wow, that worked.
You thought this was a good idea and other people thought it was a good idea."
Im watching the movie with my fiancee, Allison, at the Netflix office, he says.
[Laughs] And then shes like, I think thats up to you.
And I was like, Oh, okay."
Malerman initially planned on incorporating parts ofBird Boxhe had edited out of the book before it was published.
The original draft for it was about twice as long, he says.
I [started] revamping those threads, but I ended up getting rid of those again.
Malorie ended up becoming its whole own thing.
But will readers want to return to a fictional world that now seems so much closer to our reality?
I find myself hesitant to make any comparison betweenBird BoxorMaloriewith whats happening right now, says Malerman.
The world is freaked out, and justifiably so, andBird BoxandMalorieare supposed to be scary fun, right?
But, in reading online, I have noticed theres two camps.
One is staying away from end-times fiction and the other is totally embracing it in this cathartic way.
Its like, Oh, coronavirus, youre not surprising us, weve thought of you!"
Malerman reveals he might write a third book set in theBird Boxuniverse.
Malorieis published July 21.
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