The Simpsons: Movie sequel talks took place at Disney prior to the pandemic

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

It has been almost 16 years since The Simpsons Movie was released to big box office and solid reviews and some fans of the long-running series have wondered if a sequel would ever be made. As it turns out, Disney was very interested in making a sequel to The Simpsons Movie, and discussions were happening prior to the lockdown caused by the pandemic.

Longtime showrunner Al Jean is currently making the rounds promoting The Good, The Bart, and The Loki, a new Simpsons short released as a tie-in to Loki. During a recent interview with "ComicBook.com," Jean spoke of the possibility of a sequel and he made it clear talks were happening but the pandemic put things on hold. He also addressed that they don't want it to be a streaming release if it happens. The point of making a movie is to have a theatrical experience that is different from the show and they want to see how animated movies begin performing at the box office as we get back to normalcy at the movies:

"We were really talking about it a lot before the pandemic. And now I think just as a caution, I want to see how movies and, specifically, animated movies come back, because I wouldn't want to do it just as a streaming experience. We really want it to be a theatrical movie because that was the point of the first one, it was a thing you couldn't get anywhere else. I'm going to movies, I'm vaccinated. I'm really rooting for the movie industry, but I want to see what, personally, the landscape is. And then they also have so many great movies, I think they have five Avatar movies, five Star Wars movies in waiting … so they have a lot to roll out and we're going to go see Black Widow this weekend. I'm going to support the theater, even though I have Disney+."

The Simpsons Movie, despite coming out during a time in The Simpsons' run when it wasn't in its "golden age", was a massive box office hit. Made for $75 million, the film grossed $183.1 million domestically and $536.4 million worldwide. In the process, the movie became the second highest-grossing traditionally animated film behind Disney's The Lion King and the highest-ever grossing film based on an animated television series.  Reviews were also solid, with the film scoring an 87% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. I think a lot of the reason the film did so well was that there was some pent-up anticipation to see The Simpsons on the big screen, even though the movie came out so late into The Simpsons' run. It would be interesting to see how a sequel would perform now as 706 episodes have been broadcast to date and the series will be running at least through its 34th season. The show may not be as pop-culturally relevant but it still has a dedicated fanbase and it's big internationally thanks to syndication and merchandising.

Do YOU want to see a sequel to The Simpsons Movie?