Greenland is full of surprises. It’s a surprisingly good Gerard Butler end-of-the-world movie, and it’s also (surprisingly!) getting a sequel. That sequel is called Greenland: 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.”
Variety has the news that STX just dropped $25 million to release the Greenland sequel Greenland: Migration in 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 missed Greenland when 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 is Den of Thieves). When I sat down to watch Greenland, 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 what Greenland is. 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 dumb Geostorm. Instead, it’s a surprisingly damn good movie that might even leave you shook, as the kids say. Now, whether or not it needs a sequel is another story.
Greenland: Migration
As we previously reported, Greenland: Migration is bringing back Greenland stars Butler and Morena Baccarin, along with original director Ric 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, Greenland doesn’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: Migration could turn out to be pretty damn good. I guess we’ll see.
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