Done waiting? The Simpsons Movie 2 confirms 2027 release
Disney has pencilled in a release date for The Simpsons’ sequel — and, as D23 teases a new name, you’ll want to stick it in your diary.
Well, here we are again, talking about The Simpsons getting another go on the big screen. Yes, that’s still happening. It’s been nearly two decades since The Simpsons Movie came out and raked in over $536 million worldwide, a level of success the show's never sniffed at in cinema since. You’d think they'd follow it up quickly, but this is The Simpsons – if you’re after urgency, you’re in the wrong cartoon universe. For ages, talk of a sequel never went beyond vague hints and the occasional non-committal interview. Then, out of nowhere last autumn, Disney finally confirmed a sequel, but since then it’s all gone a bit quiet – release dates pushing around, no real plot leaks, and fans left wondering if it’s even happening. Things just took a small turn at this year’s D23 Expo in Anaheim.
The Simpsons sequel is now calling itself The New Simpsons Movie, heading for cinema screens on 3 September 2027.
D’oh, Not Quite As Expected
If you’ve been referring to this project as The Simpsons Movie 2, you’re far from alone, but it might be time to drop the ‘2’. At the D23 event, Disney showed off signage for the film under the title The New Simpsons Movie. It's not a huge swerve, but it’s more in character with the show’s sense of humour. Honestly, the idea of Homer headlining some grand, roman-numeral-laden sequel is probably a gag they'd take the mick out of themselves. And the event display? It’s a massive recreation of the famous 'Homer fades into the hedge' scene from 'Homer Loves Flanders' (that’s season 5, episode 16, for the true anoraks), while Marge, Lisa, Bart, Maggie, and half of Springfield look on. It’s a pretty decent pick for a centrepiece, considering most of the modern audience probably knows Homer from reaction memes as much as reruns.
- The Simpsons Movie (2007): $536m global box office
- First sequel teased for ages, officially confirmed September 2025
- D23 Expo 2026: signage shows updated title, The New Simpsons Movie, and 3 September 2027 release date
- Original date was July 2027, shifted to avoid A Minecraft Movie 2
- Still no concrete plot details – and no, it won’t be a series finale
The shift from the summer slot feels like classic studio scheduling. Disney yanked it from July (which would’ve lined up neatly with the first film’s 20-year anniversary, if you care about round numbers) and opted for the start of September—the so-called 'Labor D’Oh Weekend', according to their Instagram update last December. No reason announced, but it’s not hard to connect the dots: releasing up against a big Minecraft sequel is asking for a box office punch-up neither film needs. Still, a bit of an anticlimax; Labor Day isn’t exactly a blockbuster weekend, at least in traditional Hollywood thinking.
Is This a Goodbye?
All that said, we still haven’t a clue what the story is about. The hope was D23 would bring some kind of teaser or even a plot tease, but no luck on that front. One theory you can probably rule out: this film won’t double as the big finish for the actual series. Matt Selman, the current showrunner, let slip to The Wrap that The Simpsons "will never" do a real ending—if they ever bow out, it’ll just be with a standard episode, not a huge swansong. So, if you’re angling for a definitive Springfield send-off here, don’t hold your breath. Odds are, it’ll follow in the first film’s footsteps: a big adventure mostly stuck to Homer, even if fans would love to see more Marge or Lisa in the spotlight for a change.
The only major change from last time is, of course, the Disney factor. The Simpsons now sit in the same house as Marvel and Pixar, and you can feel them itching to cross the streams. They’ve already tried it with those Disney+ short films—Star Wars parody one-offs like The Force Awakens From Its Nap and Rogue Not Quite One. Whether this sequel takes that crossover energy to feature length is anyone’s guess.