Gerard Butler’s ‘Greenland’ Sequel Sells To STX For A Whopping $75 Million
Greenlandis full of surprises. It’s a surprisingly goodGerard Butlerend-of-the-world movie, and it’s also (surprisingly!) getting a sequel. That sequel is calledGreenland: Migration, and STX, who distributed the first movie, just plopped down a huge chunk of change for the rights. The sequel will follow Butler’s character and his family after “surviving near-extinction by traversing across the decimated frozen wasteland of Europe to find a new home.“Varietyhas the news that STX just dropped $25 million to release theGreenlandsequelGreenland: Migrationin the U.S. and Canada, while also paying an additional $50 million for international territories. The sequel is also being “pre-sold to buyers in foreign markets to offset the massive $75 million price tag.” The first film was also distributed by STX, and skipped theaters in the U.S. entirely due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, it hauled in $52 million at the international box office.
I missedGreenlandwhen it was initially released, but I checked it out on Blu-ray. I’ll confess that I went into the flick with low expectations. Don’t get me wrong – I like Gerard Butler. But you have to admit his output has been a tad suboptimal lately (unless we’re talking about the dirtbag masterpiece that isDen of Thieves). When I sat down to watchGreenland, I knew the basic premise: there’s a planet-killing comet heading towards Earth, and Gerard Butler has to save his family. With that in mind, I expected a big, dumb disaster movie, perhaps one where Gerard Butler punches the comet and saves the day.
But you know what? That’s not whatGreenlandis. Instead, it’s a surprisingly harrowing and even realistic look at how humanity and society would crumble in the face of certain extinction. It’s not a mindless effects-driven spectacle like Butler’s dumber than dumbGeostorm. Instead, it’s a surprisingly damn good movie that might even leave youshook, as the kids say. Now, whether or not it needs a sequel is another story.
Greenland: Migration
As we previouslyreported,Greenland: Migrationis bringing backGreenlandstars Butler andMorena Baccarin, along with original directorRic Roman Waugh.Chris Sparling, who wrote the first movie, is back as well. In this sequel, “the Garrity family, who survive a near-extinction level event when an interstellar comet hits Earth, must leave the safety of the Greenland bunker and embark on a perilous journey across the decimated frozen wasteland of Europe to find a new home.”
Now, my knee-jerk reaction is to say, “Hey,Greenlanddoesn’t need a sequel!” But I’m also the guy who expected absolutely nothing from the original film, only to come away impressed. So while I’m still a touch hesitant to embrace a sequel just yet, I’m always aware that based on the first film,Greenland: Migrationcould turn out to be pretty damn good. I guess we’ll see.
