Over the past few years, filmmaker Alex Garland has transitioned successfully from screenwriter to filmmaking auteur. His directorial debut, Ex Machina, was an incredibly well-received, and his follow-up, Annihilation had quite the shoes to fill. Luckily for him, Annihilation managed to do just as well, critically, even if it was a film that only connected with a very specific set of fans.

However, unlike his first film, Annihilation was actually based on the novel of the same name by Jeff VanderMeer. If you’re a fan of the source material, you’ll know that it’s not a standalone novel, but the first in a trilogy of novels called the Southern Reach Trilogy, with the proceeding novels being titled Authority and Acceptance.

When it was first announced that he would be taking on the first book, it wasn’t clear if it would be the first of a trilogy or its own standalone deal. In the months leading up to its release, however, it became increasingly clear that the film would be quite the departure from its source material and that there would likely be no sequel (at least not from Garland).

Speaking with IndieWire, the filmmaker reiterated this thought, saying:

“I’ve got no objection to someone else doing that, but I’m not interested in the idea of a sequel. I feel like we made this movie and this is the movie we made.

“When the thing is done, I am done with it. I instantly start moving on, so I don’t even have an opinion on an ‘Annihilation’ sequel. All the way through I was clear with everyone, from the studio to the cast, I told everyone that I didn’t really see it as part of a franchise. My goal was to make this film and do the best job I can. I didn’t even conceptualize it as the start of a trilogy. Sequels are just not something I’m interested in doing. It’s like when you don’t like steak, you don’t make the decision not to eat steak, you just don’t eat steak. I just don’t do sequels.”

Fair enough. I can respect that, but what do you think? Is it doing a disservice to the source material to restrict this all to one film? Let us know your thoughts down below!

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SOURCE: IndieWire