Lot’s of sequel talk these last few days. Here’s a rundown of everything you might have missed.
The Simpsons 2
At its current rate, The Simpsons shows no signs of slowing down. Season 31 is currently on air, and a new short film is set to debut in front of Onward this weekend. However, fans have been wanting to see the Simpson family on the big screen in a different way. They want a Simpsons Movie 2.
Released in 2007, The Simpsons Movie was a critical and box-office smash. It definitely rejuvenated the franchise for a bit in the aftermath. The Simpsons Movie proved that when the focus was placed on the family and its values that’s when some of the best material is written. Fans have been wanting a follow-up sequel sooner rather than later ever since.
Well, later might be sooner than you think. In a recent interview with /Film, Simpsons producer Al Jean revealed that a sequel was “in the very very early stages” of development:
“We would love to do one for Disney but it’s not like it’s happening next week or next year. …At D23 Matt said, “I think it’s gonna happen” and I agree with that. So I agree with that statement. I believe it will happen. [But] we would only do [another film] if it was an idea that we thought deserved being made into another movie. We certainly don’t need to have more Simpsons out there just for the money or to have additional material. We would do it if we thought it was a great story and we wanted to tell it.”
Jean also confirmed that The Simpsons Movie 2 would be a standalone sequel and not connect to the events of the first film. In my opinion, I agree with the statements above. I want to see the Simpsons in a situation that couldn’t happen within the confines of a 30-minute episode. And even if it’s a standalone sequel, can we please bring back Spider-Pig?
Hocus Pocus 2
Director Adam Shankman has signed on to direct Hocus Pocus 2 for Disney+, Variety reports.
The highly anticipated upcoming sequel is being written by Jen D’Angelo (Workaholics). However, in this new bit of information, Variety says that original stars Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kathy Najimy are not confirmed yet for the sequel. The report does go on to state that Disney remains “hopeful that they will become involved in some capacity.”
The actresses have all expressed in interest in returning in past interviews, so what’s the hold up? It’s probably money. Or the script sucks. Those are my two guesses.
Shankman also has Disenchanted in pre-production at Disney. The guy sure likes to make sequels at the Mouse House that get stuck in development hell. Right now, it’s a race to see which one will get first.
Star Trek 4
Star Trek star Simon Pegg doesn’t seem optimistic about a fourth film in the rebooted Kelvin timeline.
While promoting his new movie Lost Transmissions, Pegg spoke with GamesRadar+ and Total Film and gave an update on Star Trek 4:
“I don’t know. The fact is, Star Trek movies don’t make Marvel money. They make maybe $500m at the most, and to make one now, on the scale they’ve set themselves, is $200m. You have to make three times that to make a profit. I don’t feel like the last one…They didn’t really take advantage of the 50th anniversary. The [studio executives] at the time dropped the ball on the promo of the film. And we’ve lost momentum. I think losing Anton [Yelchin] was a huge blow to our little family, and our enthusiasm to do another one might have been affected by that. So I don’t know.”
Star Trek has seen a revival on television (or streaming, I guess) in the last few years. Both Discovery and Picard have brought new and old fans back to the franchise. Maybe it’s not a bad idea to let the film side of Trek die for a while. At least until Noah Hawley brings it back in a few years.
Would you be down for another Simpsons movie? Thoughts on never seeing the Kelvin timeline again?
