Twenty years later, Homer is back


The Simpsons Movie opened in July 2007. It earned over 530 million dollars worldwide on a 75 million dollar budget. It ended with a joke about a sequel. Maggie said sequel, in a gag that fans remembered for years. For nearly two decades, that joke stayed a joke. The show kept running on television. A film sequel kept getting discussed, then delayed, then discussed again.
Disney finally broke the wait in September 2025. The studio announced a second Simpsons film, with the working title The Simpsons 2. That announcement came with a teaser poster. A hand, a donut, and a tagline about Homer coming back for seconds. It was simple, and it was enough. Fans knew the wait was over.
The film was first dated for July 23, 2027. That date would have marked almost exactly 20 years after the first film. Disney later moved it to September 3, 2027. The move was announced in December 2025, with a Labor Day weekend framing that the studio joked about as Labor D'Oh Weekend. The new date avoids a clash with A Minecraft Movie Squared, which kept July 23, 2027. It also gives the Simpsons film its own opening weekend, with a different audience than the films around it.

The new title is a joke in itself


At D23 in August 2026, Disney revealed the official title. The film is now called The New Simpsons Movie. Not The Simpsons Movie 2. Not The Simpsons Movie Part Two. The New Simpsons Movie. The logo shows the title against a bushy background, a nod to the famous hedge gag from the show.
That title fits the show's humor. The Simpsons has spent decades mocking Hollywood sequel logic. A film called The New Simpsons Movie sounds like a joke the writers would make. It also signals a fresh chapter. Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie return. Springfield returns. The story is new, even if the family is familiar.
Rob Oliver directs in his feature length directorial debut. Oliver is a longtime Simpsons director on television. He knows the show's timing, its voices, and its look. A television director moving to film is a risk, but Oliver's history with the show helps. He does not need to learn Springfield. He already lives there, in creative terms. The film is produced by 20th Century Animation and Gracie Films, with 20th Century Studios distributing.

What the D23 footage showed


Disney screened early footage at D23, but did not release it online. Reporters in the room described it. The scene starts at a Springfield Isotopes baseball game. Homer tries to catch a ball. Betting appears to play a role in the scene. The action moves to the Duff Brewery. Homer swims through a giant beer tank. He is then shot back to the stadium along with the ball at the end.
That description tells you the tone. It is classic Homer. A simple plan goes wrong. A normal place turns chaotic. Homer's body becomes the joke and the vehicle for the gag. The footage was described as rough, not finished. Animatic style material, not a polished trailer. That is normal a year before release. Animation takes time. Rough footage at D23 is a promise, not a product.
Disney has not revealed the full plot yet. That is the biggest gap in the story so far. We know the title, the date, the director, and one baseball scene. We do not know the villain, the crisis, or the family arc. The first film had a clear crisis. Homer polluted Springfield's water. The town was sealed under a dome. The family became fugitives. The sequel will need a crisis of similar scale. Fans will guess until Disney says more.
Showrunner Matt Selman has said the show will never have a true finale. It would go out someday on a regular episode, not a grand ending. That comment matters for the film. Do not expect The New Simpsons Movie to end the series. Expect it to be a big, self contained Springfield adventure, while the show keeps running on television. The show was renewed through season 40, according to reports around the D23 news.

Why a second film took so long


The first film was famously hard to make. The team made it while also making the television show. That double workload stressed the staff. Writers and animators have talked about that strain for years. After 2007, the team was reluctant to repeat it. The bar was also high. The first film was a hit. A sequel that felt lesser would hurt the show's reputation.
Disney's purchase of Fox in 2019 changed the picture. The Simpsons became part of Disney. Discussions about a sequel ramped up steadily after that. By September 2025, Disney was ready to announce it. The long gap may help the sequel. Twenty years of show episodes give the film team new jokes, new characters, and new Springfield lore to draw on. A sequel made in 2010 would have felt like a quick follow up. A sequel in 2027 feels like an event.
For fans, the plan is simple. Mark September 3, 2027. Expect a trailer in early 2027. Expect Homer to cause a disaster in Springfield again. Expect the family to fix it together, with jokes about the fact that it took twenty years to get a second film. The Simpsons has always been self aware. A film titled The New Simpsons Movie, twenty years after the first, is the most self aware joke yet.

Sources and reporting

  1. CBR — 14 Aug 2026 · Verifies New Simpsons Movie title, September 2027 date, D23 logo and footage, July 23 to September 3 move.
  2. Screen Rant — 14 Aug 2026 · Verifies D23 first look, Homer baseball game footage, title change, September 3 date, Minecraft clash avoidance.
  3. Tribune — 15 Aug 2026 · Verifies new title, September 3 2027 date, 20 year gap, September 2025 announcement, plot still unrevealed.
Unconfirmed or reported, not stated as confirmed fact: the full plot, villain, and voice cast details beyond the core family are unconfirmed in the sources used here. D23 footage descriptions come from reporter accounts of rough material not released online, and the film's story could change before release.