When the group notices Malorie and the children escaping, Tom decides to open his eyes and shoot the group dead. He is overtaken by one of the entities, but he manages to shoot the last member of the group before shooting himself. Malorie, the children, and their pet birds, which are being carried in a box to provide a warning against the entity, make their way blindfolded down the river on a boat. The boat flips in the rapids, but Malorie, Boy, and Girl manage to all find each other. Soon after, all three are separated when Malorie accidentally slides down a hill and the entities attempt to convince Boy and Girl to remove their blindfolds using Malorie's voice. Malorie regains consciousness and asks the children to fight the urge and come back to her. The three eventually reach the community, a former school for the blind. They finally meet Rick. Malorie sees Dr. Lapham, her maternal-fetal specialist there. She then releases the birds and finally gives the children names, Tom and Olympia, and acknowledges herself to be their mother. The film rights to "Bird Box" were optioned by Universal Pictures in 2013, prior to the book's release. Scott Stuber and Chris Morgan were set to produce the film, with "It" and "Mama" director Andy Muschietti attached as director. Screenwriter Eric Heisserer was in negotiations to pen the script. In July 2017, after Stuber became head of the feature film division of Netflix, it was announced that Netflix had acquired the rights to the book and would develop the film, with Sandra Bullock and John Malkovich starring. Susanne Bier was announced as the director. In July 2017, Sandra Bullock and John Malkovich were cast in the film as Malorie Hayes and Douglas. In October 2017, Danielle Macdonald, Trevante Rhodes, Jacki Weaver, Sarah Paulson, Rosa Salazar, Lil Rel Howery, and Amy Gumenick joined the cast. In November 2017, Machine Gun Kelly and David Dastmalchian were also added. Principal photography began in California in October 2017. Wilderness scenes were shot on the Smith River in the far northern part of the state. The house exterior is from a place in Monrovia. Cinematography partially took place in Santa Cruz, and the final scene was shot at Scripps College in Claremont. The production used live birds during filming as much as possible, replacing them digitally for sequences when they became "agitated".