LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: In 2018, Netflix stunned the world with the post-apocalyptic thriller film ‘Bird Box’ and went on to become the most-watch film on the streaming platform within 28 days of its release at the time. Three years after its release, in 2021, Netflix announced that the streaming platform will be coming out with a spin-off series of the horror movie starring Sandra Bullock in the lead role. However, things are different this time around as the spin-off is heading to Barcelona and doesn’t have Bullock in the lead.
Titled ‘Bird Box: Barcelona’, the spin-off series is not a continuation of the 2018 movie, but the events shown in the upcoming project are simply adjacent to the events of the original. The teaser trailer released by Netflix begins with pandemonium on the streets and people turning to “borderline psychotic.” The teaser moves forward with a news reporter saying that these are not “isolated cases” and taking place all across Europe. The teaser ends with Sebastian (Mario Casas) walking to his car and not looking up to the sky and as soon as he reaches his car, a man falls on his car from the sky.
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Fans not thrilled with 'Bird Box' spin-off series
The teaser ends with “Are you ready to see?” on the screen.
Social media didn’t seem to be excited about the upcoming series and slammed the streaming platform for having “no real ideas.” One of the fans wrote, “Seems like a nice way of saying "we don't have any ideas.” Another social media user tweeted, “Am I wrong or did it feel like all the hype for the first movie was incredibly manufactured lol.” Another social media user wrote, “Did we REALLY need a spin-off or a sequel to this somewhat old a** movie that wasn’t THAT good? Not really.” Another user tweeted, “For the love of god, I’m praying this flops. Knowing Netflix’s usual audience that hypes up the most mediocre s**t, I’m not holding my breath.”
“This is a spinoff series, not some reality show franchise. Give it a better name,” wrote another user. “No one asked for this,” tweeted another one. “Netflix really out here making sequels to a trash movie no one asked for instead of a new season of Mindhunter, and they wonder why they’re falling apart and suck now,” wrote another user.
The official synopsis reads, “After a mysterious force decimates the world’s population, Sebastian must navigate his own survival journey through the desolate streets of Barcelona. As he forms uneasy alliances with other survivors and they try to escape the city, an unexpected and even more sinister threat grows.”
Apart from Casas, the cast includes names like Georgina Campbell, Alejandra Howard, Naila Schuberth, Diego Calva, Patrick Criado, Lola Duenas, and others.
Will 'Bird Box: Barcelona' be able to repeat the movie's success?
The original movie received mixed reviews from critics and garnered positive reviews from audiences. According to Nielsen, the movie was seen by nearly 26 million viewers in the first seven days of its release. However, Netflix revealed that the film was seen by more than 45 million viewers in the same period of time. It became the most-watched film on Netflix within 28 days of its release, with 282.02 million hours being viewed. It held the record for 3 years until being displaced by ‘Red Notice’ in 2021.
‘Bird Box: Barcelona’ is scheduled to release on Netflix on July 14.
Check out the teaser here: