Alex Garland Says Not to Expect an 'Ex Machina' Sequel'; Gives Update on 'Annihilation'

Although many of his films have been critical darlings, Alex Garland has never had a box office hit quite like Ex Machina. The sci-fi drama has come out of nowhere to be one of the year's early sleeper successes, all without the benefit of a huge marketing budget or a big superstar cast. And while typically that would be the ticket to a sequel, Garland doesn't want anybody holding their breath expecting one. He tells Deadline...

“I imagined it as a completely self-contained story and I still feel that way about it. It has become reflexive for people to imagine this movie was made to set up a sequel and that the plan was built into the structure of the film. But it was not that way, at all.”

Well, so much for that. Garland has never written or directed a sequel (he exec-produced 28 Weeks Later), and when I spoke to him he said he wouldn't be involved in any Dredd sequels, so clearly he has no interest in going that route. Possibly ever. 

As for what he'll tackle next, Garland is still leaning towards an adaptation of Jeff VanderMeer's survival book, Annihilation, about a team of women sent to explore a dangerous forest known as Area X....

“This group of women enter a sealed park to see what is going on inside, and it becomes this surreal sci-fi story, that reminded me of this J.G. Ballard sub-genre I had grown up reading. We are literally in the process of setting it up, it’s definitely spinning in the air at the moment.” 

Garland has written some great female characters already, and this sounds like another chance for him to that. For now, be sure to go and check out Ex Machina, which is expanding into more theaters tomorrow.