Fans are already squealing with dystopian delight over “The Giver,” which hit theaters this weekend with Brenton Thwaites, Odeya Rush, Jeff Bridges, Meryl Streep, and — of course — Taylor Swift at the helm. The film took about eighteen years to come together after Bridges struggled to keep hold of the rights, but now that it’s here, we’re sure the cast and crew are busy celebrating their success and picking out a fine bottle of champagne to toast with.
… Or are they?
Everybody knows that, especially in the young adult world, it’s all about having multiple sequels these days. And fans of the novel the film was based on also probably know that Lois Lowry wrote three more books — “Gathering Blue,” “Messenger,” and “Son” — that followed the 1993 original. So when MTV News hit up the film’s New York City premiere, we just had to ask — will a return to the Community happen sometime in the next, say, eighteen years?
“That’s like asking a woman in labor if she wants to have another baby next year,” Lowry said with a laugh. “She would say ‘no,’ and yet I am a woman who had four children in four years. So maybe down the road a little bit, not too far off, maybe I could get excited about it.”
Well, that sounds like good news! However, even if “The Giver” proves to be a hit and sequels are given the go-ahead, you won’t necessarily see the same cast. Each book in “The Giver” quartet focuses on a different character over a span of many years — the common link is the crappy universe they inhabit — with some characters returning years down the line, and others not at all.
[Minor spoiler warning] One character who does return is the first film’s lead Jonas, and though Thwaites admits that he hasn’t really thought about another movie yet, it’s not out of the realm of possibility.
“I haven’t read a sequel script,” he said. “I haven’t read Lois’ later books. Our main focus was this film. I’m not opposed to it… Who knows what happens with the kids, and the Community? You feel a sense of that at the end of the film. It’s ambiguous, but you know the heart of each character. You know what’s happened, which I love. Who knows? This world is a dystopian world, it’s futuristic, anything can happen.”
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