Summary
When Disney acquired 21st Century Fox, it acquired a boatload of valuable I.P., includingAvatar,Alien,Predator,X-Men,Fantastic Four,Planet of the Apes– and, of course,The Simpsons. Ever sinceThe Simpsonssettled into its new corporate home, there have been rumors that the Mouse House will makeThe Simpsons Movie 2to cash in on its investment. In theory, makingThe Simpsons Movie 2is a no-brainer. The characters are beloved icons, fans love spending time in Springfield, and 2D animation on the big screen is all too rare these days. But does the world really need aSimpsons Moviesequel? Just because Disney can make a newSimpsons Movie, it doesn’t mean it should.
What Happens In The Simpsons Movie?
The Simpsons Moviesmartly avoided the biggest pitfall of TV-to-movie adaptations. Unlike the movie adaptations ofEntourage,Bob’s Burgers, andAbsolutely Fabulous,The Simpsons Moviedoesn’t just feel like a bloated episode of the TV show. It thinks a lot bigger than the TV show with a longer, larger-scale narrative. When Homer unwittingly pollutes Lake Springfield with his “pig crap” silo, Russ Cargill, the head of the EPA, arrives to encase the entire town in a dome. The plot is very similar tothe Stephen King novelUnder the Dome, but the two projects were developed independently of one another. The Simpsons have to go on the run when the townspeople realize Homer is responsible for the dome. They flee to Alaska, but Marge eventually makes the difficult decision to leave Homer and head back to Springfield with the kids, so Homer induces an epiphany to inspire him to save the day.
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In countlessSimpsonsepisodes, Homer makes a huge mistake that causes Marge to question whether she should stay with him, but those storylines are all neatly wrapped up in 21 minutes. With 87 minutes at its disposal,The Simpsons Movieimagines a scenario in which Homer messes up so badly that Marge actually does leave him. IfThe Simpsons Movie 2is going to get made, then it needs a premise as great as the “Springfield in a dome” premise of the first film. It can’t have a storyline that could’ve easily been condensed into a half-hour episode of the show, because that would defeat the purpose.
What Is The Simpsons Movie’s Rotten Tomatoes Score?
The Simpsons Moviewas met with a warm reception at a time when the series itself was receiving mixed reviews. It scored an impressive rating of 87% on Rotten Tomatoes, indicating mostly positive reviews from critics. The positive reviews worked wonders, because audiences showed up in massive crowds to watchThe Simpsons Movie. According toBox Office Mojo, the film earned a worldwide gross of more than $536 million. IfThe Simpsons Movie 2lives up to its predecessor and its release window doesn’t have much competition, it could crack the billion-dollar barrier (but, in a post-COVID world, that’s highly unlikely).
Should There Be A Simpsons Movie 2?
Asequel toThe Simpsons Moviehas been teased since the first one came out. There’s even a nod to it in the movie itself. During the end credits, the Simpsons are seen leaving a movie theater and Maggie takes out her pacifier to say her first word: “Sequel?” So, a follow-up movie has always been on the cards, and there’s certainly a demand for it. But, in a moviegoing age in which half of all the major releases feel like a totally unnecessary cash-in on a popular I.P., the question must be asked: does the world really need aSimpsons Movie 2? From a business perspective, it makes sense for Disney to commission aSimpsons Movie 2to cash in on the investment it made to acquire 21st Century Fox. However, fromSolo: A Star Wars StorytoIndiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, a lot of recent big-budget movies that Disney has produced to cash in on a corporate merger havebombed at the box office.The Simpsons Movie 2could suffer the same fate.
The series has only gone further downhill in the past 16 years. The fan base is dwindling and a lot of remaining fans only watch the golden-age content. But that doesn’t mean a potentialSimpsons Movie 2is doomed to failure. Passable movies won’t get crowds to theaters anymore, but audiences have proven they’ll show up in droves if a movie is good. A newSimpsons Moviecould succeed if it follows the first film’s tactic of assembling a supergroup writing staff with all the best writers from the show’s storied past. Much like the first one,The Simpsons Movie 2will need a great story, a rapid-fire gag rate, and emotionally engaging arcs forall the fan-favorite characters. If it has all that going for it, thenThe Simpsons Movie 2can be a huge hit to rival its predecessor (but it’s a long shot).
