The Simpsons movie sequel finally gets a release date

After years of waiting, teasing, and rumors, The Simpsons are finally back for their highly anticipated sequel. Disney's 20th Century Fox has just confirmed that The Simpsons 2 is currently in development and will be released in theaters on July 23, 2027. Ending the almost two-decade gap since the family's last cinematic outing, the announcement came with a cheeky poster featuring a pink sprinkled donut and the tagline "Homer's coming back for seconds."

The sequel has had a rocky road, marked by cancellations, shelving, and more declined ideas. In 2014, Ai Jean and James L. Brooks revealed that Fox had requested a follow-up, although they admitted to being busy with too many other projects. Ultimately, developments were shelved because everyone feared it wouldn't fit the continuity of the show.

By 2017, talk of a sequel had resurfaced. In 2019, Matt Groening predicted that Disney, which had just acquired Fox, would push for another movie. Then the pandemic arrived, and with it, delays that sent the project into limbo once again.

More details about The Simpsons

Before Homer ever trapped Springfield under a giant glass dome, the road to The Simpsons Movie was almost as messy as one of his hair-brained schemes. For years, ideas had floated around but stalled because no one could finalize a script. That changed in 2001 when the voice cast signed on, and a small army of writers, including James L. Brooks, Matt Groening, Al Jean, Mike Scully, and Jon Vitti, got to work.

They tossed around countless plots until Groening’s pitch won out, and even then, the screenplay was rewritten over a hundred times, sometimes while animators were already drawing scenes. Entire sequences were scrapped, including cameos from stars like Isla Fisher, Edward Norton, and even Sideshow Bob himself, Kelsey Grammer.

When the film finally arrived in 2007, longtime series director David Silverman helmed the project, while the familiar voices of Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner, Nancy Cartwright, Yeardley Smith, Hank Azaria, Harry Shearer, and others brought Springfield to life. Albert Brooks joined the chaos as well, with the film grossing $536.4 million worldwide, making it one of the most successful animated films of all time, as it continued to receive praise from fans and critics.

The story centered on Homer’s spectacular blunder with a silo of pig waste, which led the Environmental Protection Agency to seal Springfield beneath a glass dome. Banished from town and shunned by their neighbors, the Simpson family found their bonds tested as they fought for both freedom and forgiveness.