The Gerard Butler disaster movie Greenland saw the planet largely annihilated by a comet. Here’s everything we know about its upcoming sequel.

After the unexpected success of Greenland, a sequel, Greenland: Migration, has been greenlit, with some cast and story details already confirmed.

In the film, skyscraper engineer John Garrity (Gerard Butler) races across the country with his estranged wife Allison (Morena Baccarin) and son Nathan (Roger Dale Floyd) in a feverish attempt to reach safety before the imminent impact of an extinction-level comet fragment. One of the first movies to forgo a domestic theatrical release in favor of video-on-demand during the pandemic, Greenland found great success with at-home rentals.

Its cathartic focus on an escapist disaster made it an international box-office hit, grossing $52 million (via Box Office Mojo). The film also received favorable reviews on Rotten Tomatoes thanks to its thoughtful approach to disaster cinema that focused more on the human aspect of an extinction event.

It’s rare for a disaster movie to get a sequel, and the second film tends to depict the implausible re-occurrence of the same cataclysmic event shown in the original. Greenland: Migration stands to buck this trend by continuing the focus on the human response to the disaster.

Greenland: Migration Latest News

In May 2023, Ric Roman Waugh, the director of both Greenland films, spoke about his intentions for the sequel and its relationship to the first. Teasing a Dune comparison to Greenland: Migration, he said, “It’s kind of like the way they had the money to make Dune in two parts. What I love about the way we’re going to do Greenland is the first movie was all up to the extinction event; the second movie will be what happened afterward.”

The comparison reveals two things about Greenland: Migration. First, the conception of the two movies as one complete story means that the sequel will likely remain consistent with the themes of the original.

And second, the Garrity’s journey will not continue beyond Greenland: Migration. Ric Roman Waugh referred to the sequel as “the final chapter” (via Collider), meaning that, regardless of the film’s success, there are no plans for Gerard Butler to return for a third installment.

Greenland: Migration Is Confirmed

The Sequel Is On The Way

Shortly after the success of Greenland, a sequel was announced and promptly had its distribution rights acquired by production company STX. The company distributed Greenland and paid a whopping $75 million for its sequel at the Cannes Virtual Market, signaling a considerable amount of faith in the film’s projected success.

Even among the uncertain future of STX’s upcoming projects due to its impending acquisition by The Najafi Companies, STX has sought to secure the stability of Greenland: Migration by creating a subsidiary company to protect the film’s rights.

Greenland: Migration Production Status

Greenland: Migration Hasn’t Begun Filming Yet

Greenland: Migration is still a long way from release, and no news has come regarding its overall production timeline either.

Though the film has been officially confirmed for several years, Greenland: Migration hasn’t begun principal photography yet, and by all reports is still in the pre-production phase. This makes a release date almost impossible to guess, and the future of the movie is still somewhat uncertain until production officially begins.

Greenland: Migration Cast

Who Will Star In Greenland: Migration?

Gerard Butler and Morena Baccarin will return for Greenland: Migration in the roles of John and Allison Garrity. While the sequel will certainly see the return of son Nathan Garrity, it remains to be seen whether he will be once again played by Roger Dale Floyd.

Greenland: Migration will take place five to seven years after the original film, and the young Floyd may not look old enough. It is highly unlikely that much of the supporting cast will return due to the time jump and location change.

Greenland: Migration Story Details

What Will Happen In Greenland: Migration?

As the title suggests, Greenland: Migration will follow the Garrity family and other survivors as they travel across Europe in hopes of finding a new home.

Greenland ended with the hopeful chorus of numerous voices chiming in on the radio, having survived the impact. According to director Ric Roman Waugh, “It’ll be about who survived, and how did they rebuild the Earth“.

Greenland: Migration investigates the aftermath of the disaster. Waugh says, “These people have been imprisoned underground. What does that do to the human psyche?” Particularly, Waugh seems interested in focusing on Nathan Garrity’s development, continuing, “A little boy that was eight years old […] what is his life as a teenager when he’s known nothing else”. Once again, it seems that family and complex humanity are at the forefront of Waugh’s mind in Greenland: Migration.