After nearly two decades of unprecedented success, the pop culture phenomenon known as The Simpsons finally got its long-expected chance at the silver screen. The Simpsons Movie opened in theaters during the summer of 2007 and blew away expectations after raking in well over half a billion dollars at the worldwide box office on a $75 million production budget.
So, how does a film based on a long-running franchise, which earned very positive reviews and fans new and old, on top of a hefty profit margin, not get a sequel greenlit? Well, according to James L. Brooks, Simpsons executive producer, they’re definitely open to it, but that the first one was tough to make.
Our pal Ed Douglas at Coming Soon has the exclusive after chatting with Brooks and bringing up the success of The Simpsons Movie.
“We’re open to it… It was much harder than we anticipated. It took us a year to try and get to the point because we’re all so scared of ‘What are we going to do to the Simpsons’ and ‘What if the movie is no good?’ We were all so scared about that and I thought it took us a solid year of looking at each other to get to the point where we can get to the point where we don’t give a sh*t… It was a huge success and we’re very open to it and we have a beginning notion if we want to do it, but the series always comes first with us. The series is always primary to us.”
It took years and years for creator Matt Groening and the producers The Simpsons to finalize a script and plan to bring Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, Maggie and the rest of our favorite cartoon characters from the nuclear-powered town of Springfield to the life of movie stars. And in the end we got a movie which worked for new viewers and brought back fans of old to one of the greatest cartoons ever made.
A sequel is certainly warranted but I can understand the trepidation of creating a sequel which needs to live up to and surpass its predecessor. More to the point, I respect the Brooks’ statement about their devotion to the show first and that its the people behind the show that need to be involved with the movie, should there be a second some day.
If The Simpsons Movie 2 becomes a reality, what could the story be about?
Share your thoughts in the comments and with us on Twitter @rob_keyes and @screenrant.
Source: Coming Soon
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I would love another Simpsons movie! I enjoyed the first and love the series.
I enjoyed the first movie, but it was only good to watch once, and didn’t have any replay value to me. I’m not sure if I’d be game for a sequel.
i find the recent episodes to be dull/boring, when someone starts poking fun at peoples ideology behind terrorism you know they’re running out of ideas.
so a movie to end the show completely (which i doubt is going to happen any time soon) would be good.
I loved the first and would LOVE a sequel, but I feel like the sequel should end the series at this point, go Balls out on the story and give this wonderful series the end it really deserves. It has had an unprecedented amazing run, but I all good things come to and end and if they do a sequel, it should be bigger than anything ever before, and end the series respectively and wonderfully.
Definitely agree, on all counts.
Problem I had with the first film is that it ignored the Simpsons typical strengths, the ability to be buried in popular culture. Instead it chased an epic plot that didn’t fit the characters we’d spent 20 years establishing relationships with. Even worse it created new characters to act as villains but made them so uninteresting that it killed any hatred we should of had for them.
Second film would be welcome but the lessons from the first film need to be learnt.
AWSOME NEWS! I loved the first one,it was great.
hey vic there’s something wrong with the times comments are posted, been happening for a while now but this is the weirdest i’ve seen.
time of post(s) are all over the place.
We’ve had wonky issues sometimes with DST. I’m commenting now to see what time comes up on this one.
Vic
That one came up fine – I posted my comment and the time on it is “Less than a minute ago”.
Vic
There hasnt been a great episode of the Simpsons for about 5 years, sure there has been the occasional laugh or titter but nothing classic, in fact there hasnt been any brilliant episodes since about season 15.
I think a final blow-out between homer and a monty burns/sideshow bob combo would be epic, and at the end there is a nuclear meltdown, so springfield has to let go of their toxic radiated energy usage… and they start burning coal! they regress, hey there’s a massive tire pile that could be burned for fuel. And I think it would be cool if Ned Flanders had to get a job bartending at Moes.
That all sounds pretty cool, that was the main problem with the first movie, not enough Mr Burns, he’s my favourite character and he was in the film for all of a minute. Sideshow Bob is a must for the sequel as well, as long as he has a rake to step on.
oh yeah, the rake is a must, right after one of his evil genius speeches. And MORE MONTY BURNS, YEAH!
I love the noise he makes when he stands on the rakes.
well, I absolutely loved the movie, and still immensely enjoy the series.
so if they make a sequel, I’ll be there.
and I, for one, hope it won’t end the TV series. I’m a regular viewer, even of rerun episodes in alternate time slots.
whoa!
why is it sometimes I post comments and they just *poof* disappear into thin air?
ok, twice now, I’ve tried posting a reprise of my original comment, and it does not appear.
why on earth are THESE posts appearing? but my original is not?
and hey, Vic, you’d be proud! my comments were POSITIVE!!!!
Mike E.
LOL, I found your comment and published it. Let me assure you it wasn’t “flagged” or blocked by me. For some reason our spam application marked it as such, and I don’t know why. It’s a third party app and sometimes I can’t figure out what triggers it.
Best,
Vic
Gremlins…
i don’t want to sound like one of those douchebags but i gotta agree that it’s been a VERY long time since The Simpsons was funny, (i have given it a chance) i was heartbroken when i saw the episode where Emily Blunt guest starred, she’s one of my favourite actresses and it was the weakest episode yet, you’d think if they realized the show was on a road to nowhere they’d at LEAST stay clear of Lisa centric episodes =/
i agree with what someone said previously, they need to emerge themselves in a few old school episodes, jazz it up with some relevent pop culture gags (NO BEIBER OR TWILIGHT, although i dislike both i am SICK of hearing people b**** about them) and make Mr Burns or Sideshow Bob the villain, they just need to try writing a 90 minute long episode, not a movie i’m sure fans would be content with that.
that’s ok, you can be “one of those douchebags”
Not everyone will always find everything funny.
I know people who absolutely HATE Family Guy, I love it, think it’s hysterical.
Neither of us is right or wrong, we just don’t tick the same way.
It’s not like discussing the quality of the animation, or some objective attribute of the series. The humor doesn’t hit your funny bone. That’s all. We are all tuned differently.
For myself, I have enjoyed every episode I’ve seen of The Simpsons, even if it did not always get a “guffaw HAHA slap the thigh” type of reaction from me. It makes me smile at least.
And if you don’t think Bieber and Twilight are “relevant” pop culture references, you need to get out and get some fresh air ion the real world. As much as you may be tired of them, they ARE among the most influential pop cultural phenomena of this age. That is neither good nor bad, it’s not a qualitative comment. Pop culture is predicated on “the masses”. If “the masses” are “into it”, it’s relevant. To them.
By the way, “old school” is not relevant. It is nostalgic. Be sure not to confuse the two. That’s not a dig of any sorts, but you talk about pop culture relevance, then bring up “old school”. The two are mutually exclusive by their very nature.
For myself, I would find a Sideshow Bob episode dull. He’s most definitely not my favourite character in The Simpsons pantheon. So, you see, your tastes are your own. The episodes with Sideshow Bob have been the ones that have left me coldest.
i get what you’re saying, i think i didn’t make myself very clear, i realize Beiber and Twilight are culturally relevent but after all this time, i think it could be seen as kind of lazy of the writers to go for such an easy target, if they were to make a few jokes about some things that are only just emerging, and mix it in with a few of the more obvious gags then it might give the film some extra staying power because after it’s been out for a while people will have explored that new avenue
I too would love a simpsons sequel, but I disagree that lately its been weak for The Simpsons, I mean has no one seen the episode “To Surveil With Love”?
“After nearly two decades..”
Two decades and three seasons. Hehehe…
helll yh!! first simpsons movie was awesome
As long as Boob Lady returns.
i would love a second simpsons movie and if they did one it should be when mr burns becomes the dictator of america and tires to rule the world
First of all The Simpson’s Movie was Awesome and epic, I would love to see a sequel. and my second point,
The Simpson show still beats that horrible show bobs burgers or any Seth Macfarlane show. THE SIMPSON’S is the second best show on TV other then futurama IMHO. If any one can name a better half hour sit com then THE SIMPSON’S AND FUTURAMA then I will eat my words but I just don’t see it and I watch a lot of TV. I have watched the Simpson for 22 years and I haven’t seen a really bad episode yet. But hay may be I’m a big HOMER. I also love STAR WARS and I loved all six movies I guess you can say I’m not hard to please and I am a 10 year old trapped in the body of a 30 year old. My shrink says I have peter pan syndrome LOL.
I loved The Simpsons Movie and the series and I definitely think they should make a sequel AND in 3-D! What I hated about the new seasons is that they bring in all this new stuff in like what they did with Treehouse of Horror XXI by putting Twilight in there. That was the worst episode EVER! What they need to do is bring in a little bit more old school stuff. And in the movie there was no Sideshow Bob and about 2 minutes of Mr. Burns. I still liked it though. It was awesome.
THE SIMPSONS MOVIE 2 MUST GO ON
I adored the Simpsons movie. Absolutely adored that movie. The only thing that bugged me… There was no Sideshow Bob. None. Russ wasn’t a true villain to the series, and Sideshow Bob has been one of the greatest villains in the entire series, even though he has only made a few appearances. Here’s a stupid idea, but what if Bob got out of prison, or something. True, this has been done in the series, but I do have an “interesting idea”. What if Sideshow Bob was locked in a house/cabin/hotel of some sort? In my head, this would be extremely gory, sadistic, and probably would be rated R. But, hey, that’s my idea for you. But what if that idea was turned into an episode in the T.V. series? Well, there’s my opinion. Can’t wait for the next movie! >:D
*Locked in with the Simpsons in a house/cabin/hotel. Didn’t add that. ^-^’
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