The announcement of a new James L Brooks film has insiders suggesting it’s the ‘herald’ of a potential sequel to The Simpsons movie…
The long-running TV version of The Simpsons may not possess the cultural relevance it once did, but the feature-length film that released back in 2007 did gangbusters business for what was then 20th Century Fox, grossing over half a billion dollars – and that’s just theatrically.
In the years since, the possibility of another film has sometimes been floated, but we’ve never seen anything come to fruition – until now perhaps.
See also: The Simpsons movies that never were
The catalyst for the current rumours lie with series producer, James L Brooks. 20th Century Studios (formerly 20th Century Fox) has green-lit a new venture by the producer, a dramedy project titled Ella McKay, starring Sex Education actor Emma Mackey.
According to a new report at The Insneider, the move from the studio is straight out of the ‘one for you, one for us’ playbook. 20th Century Studios is said to be backing Brooks’ project in the hope that he’ll reciprocate and throw his influence into getting a sequel to The Simpsons Movie up and running.
This one falls firmly into the rumour camp at the moment, not least because of the tricky schedule it would place on all involved as they would have to keep the regular TV show running while also mounting and producing a film project. There’s a reason it took so many years to get the first film off the ground, and we’re over 15 years on from that already. Breath does not need to be held here.
As for Ella McKay, the project is set to ‘follow an idealistic young politician who juggles work and family while preparing to replace her mentor as the state governor. Jamie Lee Curtis, Woody Harrelson, Albert Brooks, Ayo Edibiri, Kumail Nanjiani, and Spike Fearn all feature.’
You can catch an interview with Brooks from earlier this year on the Film Stories podcast here.
