The Simpsons may be 37 seasons in, but its biggest theatrical success remains the 2007 film, as The Simpsons Movie pulled in over $536 million worldwide. It featured Spider-Pig, Springfield under a dome, and Homer nearly destroying his hometown before the franchise returned to television as if none of it had happened.
For years, fans asked about a sequel and got little more than shrugs. Disney finally broke its silence last September with an official announcement. Since then, though, updates have been scarce, and the film even lost its original summer release date along the way. Now, at this year’s D23 Expo in Anaheim, the sequel has shown signs of life again, and it turns out the movie fans have been calling The Simpsons Movie 2 may not actually be titled that. Signage at the film’s D23 pavilion identifies the sequel as The New Simpsons Movie, displayed alongside a Sept. 3, 2027 release date.
The display itself is a fun bit of staging, recreating the famous shot of Homer retreating into a hedge, with Marge, Bart, Lisa, Maggie, and Springfield regulars like Krusty and Mr. Burns gathered around it. That image comes from “Homer Loves Flanders” (the 16th episode of Season 5) and has arguably become more famous as a reaction GIF, which makes it a fairly shrewd centerpiece. Disney seems to understand that a lot of the audience for this movie in 2027 will be people who know Homer from the internet as much as from the show.
The title change, if it holds, feels fairly on-brand for The Simpsons. After all, the series has spent decades making fun of Hollywood sequel logic, so a title with “2” may have been a slightly awkward fit. The updated title reads more like the kind of self-aware joke the writers would make themselves, in much the same spirit as the first film’s opening gag, where Homer points out the absurdity of paying for something viewers usually get on TV for free. Whether the title sticks is a fair question, since studios have walked back D23 branding before, but it would be a little disappointing if it didn’t.
As for the release date, it confirms the shift announced last December, when Disney moved the film off its original July 23, 2027, date via an Instagram post promising a “Labor D’Oh Weekend” arrival. The company never explained the move, though the July slot would have collided with A Minecraft Movie 2, and avoiding that fight seems like a reasonable guess. The move does cost the film its tidy 20th anniversary summer framing, and Labor Day has historically been one of the quieter weekends on the theatrical calendar.
What the movie is actually about remains anyone’s guess, and D23’s entertainment showcase would be the natural place for Disney to say more. One thing that can probably be ruled out is a series finale in disguise. Showrunner Matt Selman told The Wrap that The Simpsons will “never” have a true finale and would instead go out someday on a “regular episode.” So the safer assumption is a standalone story in the vein of the first film, which leaned almost entirely on Homer, to the mild disappointment of anyone hoping Lisa or Marge might get the spotlight.
The one real change now is that The Simpsons is part of the same company as Marvel and Pixar. The show has already released Disney+ crossover shorts, including the Star Wars-themed The Force Awakens From Its Nap and Rogue Not Quite One. It is still unclear whether the sequel will lean further into that shared franchise world.
