Will We Ever See A Sequel To The Outsiders?

In both cinema and literature, there are some properties that fans yearn to see continued even though a full story was delivered at the conclusion of the work. Great films that never got sequels include Steven Spielberg's "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial," Martin Scorsese's "Taxi Driver," Christopher Nolan's "Inception," and Francis Ford Coppola's "The Outsiders." The latter film is based on the 1967 novel by S.E. Hinton, which has also never received a follow-up despite the book's acclaim over the decades (via Pacific Standard). And both the novel and the feature manage to capture the pains of adolescence thanks to rigid class divides that still resonate with contemporary youth.

But not every movie sequel can match the intensity of "The Godfather Part II" – another Coppola film that stands in equal popularity to his Hinton adaptation. It would only ever make sense to see a follow-up to the influential feature if there is a corresponding source material to draw from in the form of a sequel novel. S.E. Hinton has shared her opinion on a return to the Socs and greasers of Tulsa, Oklahoma, which ultimately begs the question, will we ever get a continuation of "The Outsiders"?

In 2017, which marked the 50th anniversary of the publication of "The Outsiders," author S.E. Hinton was interviewed by Us Weekly to reflect on the half a century of the book's popularity. When asked if she's ever considered writing a sequel, the author replied, "Oh, no! Even by the time I wrote this I knew it was the end. I could not write a sequel. I could remember what it was like to be 16, but I'm not 16. I could not re–come up with those emotions."

Hinton continued by highlighting how the narrative, a coming-of-age story, has a definitive ending: "For about two weeks in Ponyboy's life, he learned to look at life completely differently. To me, that's where the story ends. I didn't want to go on to Ponyboy Visits Hawaii or something." The novelist's decision seems to be final since when she was also asked about a follow-up by a fan on Twitter in 2019, she simply replied, "I will never write a sequel."