Scott Westerfeld's young adult novel Uglies has been adapted into a feature film on Netflix, and the author addressed whether the rest of his books will receive the same treatment.
Uglies stars Joey King as the main character, Tally, who lives in a dystopian society where teenagers must undergo a surgery at sixteen to become "Pretties". The Pretties live a somewhat perfect life, as seen in Lucky Blue Smith's surprise cameo in Uglies, but Tally soon uncovers it is not all that it seems.
Not everything is resolved at the end of Uglies, leading audiences to question whether there could be more films on the way.
Uglies Creator Comments on Movie Sequel Potential
As mentioned, Uglies is based on Scott Westerfeld's series of novels, of which there are four: Uglies, Pretties, Specials and Extras.
In a recent interview with Whats on Netflix, Westerfeld discussed plans for future screen adaptations of his novels, saying his content deal allows the studio to "adapt all of the books in both quadrilogies":
"Yes, my deal with Anonymous allows them to adapt all of the books in both quadrilogies."
The other quadrilogy Westerfeld refers to is the Impostors series, a sequel series to Uglies which takes place after the Pretties' regime has been toppled.
Westerfeld added that the viewership count for Uglies so far seems promising, but still urged fans to "keep watching:"
"It seems like we’ve got a great base of views to have at least a couple of sequels made, as long as people keep watching!"
What There Be a Sequel to Uglies?
The comments made by Westerfeld echo those made by the cast and director during the film's press cycle, which established that Uglies 2 could only happen if the film resonated with audiences and reached a high viewership count.
So, three weeks after release, how are Uglies viewership numbers looking?
At the time of writing, Uglies has 14.8 million hours viewed (per Netflix), and has remained in the Top 10 streaming charts globally every week since its release. It has consistently been in second place on the charts, beaten only by Rebel Ridge.
Netflix has never been clear on what the exact viewership benchmark is for a film or TV series to receive a sequel, but it seems that Uglies is tracking in the right direction.
An Uglies sequel certainly has no lack of story potential to draw upon. In the novels, Pretties establishes a love triangle between Tally, David and Zane and also explores further what happens to teenagers after the controversial surgery, and whether a cure is possible.
Uglies is streaming now on Netflix.
