2025 was already a banner year for Fox's longest-running animated series, with several shows earning four-season extensions, and the news that American Dad is returning to its former network. Then came the mostly shocking announcement that The Simpsons Movie is getting a sequel after years of fans' hopes and rumors. Now, Family Guy fans can celebrate this year's Halloween with the new A Little Fright Music special. These are good days indeed. (R.I.P. The Great North.)
After watching Stewie and Brian try to crack the pop culture conundrum of proper Halloween songs — no spoilers here — I talked to Family Guy's co-showrunner Alec Sulkin about giving the Griffin family another holiday special. But I first had to ask for his take on the recent Simpsons Movie news, and he sounded just as enthused about it as I am, saying:
I mean, it's great. I loved the first Simpsons Movie. I'm a huge Simpsons fan from growing up, and I can't wait to see the second one. It's nice just to have a movie that you're excited to go see, so I definitely am.
Seeing any kind of a flat-out comedy getting a wide release on the big screen is especially rare these days, at least in comparison to the time when The Simpsons Movie first came out. We're at a point when Taylor Swift, who'd only released her self-titled album when Homer & Co. dealt with Springfield's dome in 2007, managed to top the entire weekend box office with the BTS look at her newest album, and it wasn't even the first time this year she did that. Enough about her for now, even though I'm sure the writers will try to get her in for a guest spot.
Sulkin continued, adding praise for just how funny he thought the first movie was:
I mean, given how funny that show was and is, I felt like what they were able were able to do in that first movie was great because it felt just like a longer episode of the show, and they stacked it with great jokes. I know they had a great team working on it. So yeah, I'm looking forward to it.
Judging by all the responses to the news, more people are excited than otherwise, though there was definitely a wave of reactions that skewed more negative. No need to give that any attention here, though.
Instead, I'll draw focus to the number of reactions that questioned why the world was getting another Simpsons movie while we're still waiting on a single Family Guy feature to exist. (At least a full-length one that didn't just riff on the Star Wars movies.)
What's Happening With The Family Guy Movie?
When I asked the co-showrunner if he was privy to all the fans clamoring for Quahog to get a movie, he answered with:
I have. I know that — and I've said this before — Seth has talked about how he has the idea that he wants to do for the Family Guy movie, and he just wants to make sure that he's putting it out at the right time. Which I think is admirable, because once he puts that out, then the pressure for the second one will start. So I think he's delaying all of that just as long as he can.
It is wild to me to even start to consider that Seth MacFarlane is holding off on a first movie in order to avoid speculation and pressure regarding a second movie. But I guess that is indeed how creatives at MacFarlane's level have to think about them. Plus, he's literally seen that scenario play out in real time during the 18-year stretch it's been since The Simpsons Movie came out. Maybe if there's a point when he has fewer plates spinning at high speeds, he'll be more willing to commit to a theatrical movie.
If it does end up happening in the near future, on a timeline where the two could feasibly come out around the same time, I joked that the series creator could work with theaters to set the Family Guy movie to play an hour after The Simpsons sequel, and Sulkin responded with:
[Laughs.] That’s very funny. He'd want it to be an hour before, I'm sure.
How wild would it be if Family Guy crossed over with The Simpsons, Bob's Burgers and American Dad in a big-screen epic adventure? And let's not forget about Ted's foul-mouthed bear, and the crew from The Orville. If you're gonna do it once, you might as well do it right.
Let us know in the poll below which animated film you'd rather see, and be sure to stream Family Guy: A LIttle Fright Music as soon as humanly (or ghostly) possible with a Hulu subscription.
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