(This article will contain general spoilers for the original film.)
After numerous delays to its release due to COVID-19, and eventually skipping U.S. theaters altogether, Greenland still managed to earn $52 million in late 2020 and early 2021.
Produced by Ric Roman Waugh, the end-of-the-world actioner stars Gerard Butler and Morena Baccarin as John and Allison Garrity. Along with their son, Nathan, the Garritys must flee from an impending extinction event brought by a recently discovered interstellar comet named Clarke.
As Clarke breaks up in space, its pieces begin raining down on Earth unleashing cosmic destruction, in some cases obliterating entire cities. To make matters worse, it’s announced that one final massive chunk of the comet will impact near Europe causing a global apocalypse not seen since the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs.
In a race to reach shelter before that final event, the Garratys manage to avoid anhilation and end up part of one of many groups able to ride out the devastation in bunkers around the world. The film’s final minutes, which include several wallpaper-worthy scenes of destruction around the world, show the family emerging from their bunker to face a world greatly changed.
Even with the effects of the pandemic, the $52 million haul the film raked in was more than enough to cover the $35 million budget. Enough that it was announced recently that the Garrity family will return in Greenland: Migration.
In addition to Butler and Baccarin reprising their roles, also returning will be producer Waugh and Greenland script writer Chris Sparling.
Production is not expected to begin until 2022, but they’ve given us a teaser of the plot to mull over.
“In a continuation of the story, the Garrity family, who survive a near-extinction level event when an interstellar comet hits the 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.”
While that doesn’t tell us much, there is enough there to start to form some ideas of what the second film might be like. First, any mention of “wasteland” in relation to a film’s setting is always a good thing. Then without the arrival of another comet, the sequel is likely to be less “death from above” and more “person vs the environment.” Starting out from Greenland, but ending up in a frozen Europe makes you wonder if the oceans are frozen over as well? If so, then that type of a landscape, so altered by the cataclysm, offers many opportunities for various dangers and pitfalls to beset the family on their journey.
With the two main stars, the producer, and the writer all returning for the sequel, we can hope that the second film will be as entertaining as the first, if not more.
It will be late 2022 at the earliest and likely 2023 before Greenland: Migration is released. But as the sequel falls firmly into the post-apocalyptic category, we will be sure to keep you updated with any news about the project along the way.
