Though Netflix rarely makes public the viewing figures for their shows and films, the numbers for their recent hit Bird Box have been too impressive not to share. In fact, in its first week alone, we’ve been told that the movie was viewed by a whopping 45 million people.
Yes, it’s become quite apparent that Susanne Bier’s post-apocalyptic thriller has taken the world by storm ever since hitting the streaming service in December, with its gripping story of survival inspiring all sorts of discussion amongst Netflix subscribers. And while the pic had a fairly conclusive ending, there are certainly more than a couple of ways that things could continue. As such, all talk has now turned to whether we’ll see a sequel or not.
After all, though Malorie and her children seemed to have found their safe haven at the end of Bird Box, the story doesn’t need to finish there. For instance, it could turn out that this haven isn’t what it seems, with some new, nefarious threat just waiting to emerge once Malorie settles in. Or, alternatively, perhaps something might happen which would force everyone in there to head back out into the world and face the creatures from the first film again.
What’d be even more interesting to see, though, would be some kind of prequel or spinoff, which explores why these creatures arrived on Earth and what exactly they want. Additionally, it could also shed some light on the first group of people who encountered the creatures, as they investigate what’s going on and why.
As for which members of the cast could return, well, it obviously depends on which route Netflix decides to head down with the story, but given Sandra Bullock’s terrific performance, you’d imagine the streaming giant would want her back. And maybe Pruitt Taylor Vince as the sanctuary’s leader Rick and Parminder Nagra as Dr. Lapham could join her?
It’d also be nice to see more of Trevante Rhodes as Tom, too, but the only way that’d work is if he appeared via flashback. And given that the fate of Felix and Lucy has been left open, it’d be easy to find a way for them to return as well.
But let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves, as it’ll probably be a while before we see more from this universe. After all, Bier has said that she just wants people to focus on the first film for now and isn’t thinking about a sequel yet. Then again, given that Netflix likely won’t want to wait too long to capitalize on the buzz surrounding Bird Box, we could get an announcement later this year with the follow-up arriving in 2020.
Unfortunately, we’ll just have to wait and see what the company decides, but if you haven’t had the chance to watch one of 2018’s most buzzed about movies yet, do yourself a favor and dive right in ASAP. You won’t be disappointed.
