Is We're The Millers 2 Happening, Or Is The Fake Family Done Drug Smuggling?
One of the biggest box office surprises in 2013 was the comedy film "We're the Millers," which featured Jason Sudeikis, Jennifer Aniston, Emma Roberts, and Will Poulter as a ragtag group of amateur drug smugglers posing as a family in the hopes of bringing home a massive payday. The road trip comedy was a huge financial success and is considered by many to be one of the very best films of Sudeikis' career. Directed by Rawson Marshall Thurber ("Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story"), the film also features a knock-out supporting cast including Nick Offerman, Kathryn Hahn, Ed Helms, Molly Quinn, Luis Guzman, Thomas Lennon, Ken Marino, Tomer Sisley, Matthew Willig, and the feature film debut of Sam Richardson.
After surviving the ordeal of posing as a fake family and smuggling a massive amount of marijuana from Mexico into the States (that turned out to be stolen goods from an internationally-wanted druglord), "We're the Millers" ends with the faux family forced into witness protection and given new, legal identities as an actual family in a new neighborhood. They're also growing marijuana in their backyard and talking smack about their embarrassing new neighbors because no amount of pretending to be well-adjusted normies can change the fact these weirdos are a bunch of lovable jerks who were meant to find each other.
A sequel seemed all but guaranteed, with New Line Cinema even announcing one in 2014. But that was nearly a decade ago, and we've still yet to see "We're Still the Millers." Is it happening? Here's what we know.
What has the cast said about We're Still the Millers?
Over the years, a handful of the core cast members have spoken about a sequel to "We're the Millers," and sadly, things don't sound too hopeful. In speaking with US Magazine, Will Poulter was asked if a sequel was coming any time soon and he said, "I don't think so, but I got a lot of love for Jennifer [Aniston] and Jason [Sudeikis] and Rawson [Marshall Thurber], our director." Fortunately, he did also say, "I would happily work with any of them again, but I think 'We're Still the Millers' is probably not gonna happen." But that's just one guy's opinion, right? Right?! Tragically, Jennifer Aniston has also all but confirmed the film is dead in the water.
During an interview with Yahoo! Entertainment, Aniston was asked about sequels she would have loved to have done but didn't happen, and she cited a return to play Sarah "Rose" Miller. "There was talk about that," she said. "But that one didn't happen." While the rule of Hollywood has always been "never say never," it's hard to imagine the cast's busy schedules will align once again to make some more magic. Fortunately, all involved have gone on to appear in massively popular projects, with Aniston co-starring in "The Morning Show," Poulter joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe in "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3," Emma Roberts starring in yet another season of "American Horror Story" (and finishing production on Marvel's "Madame Web"), and Jason Sudeikis delighting the world as "Ted Lasso."
Not to mention, director Rawson Marshall Thurber has gone on to helm "Red Notice," the massively successful action comedy with Ryan Reynolds, Dwayne Johnson, and Gal Gadot that is slated to film back-to-back sequels following the end of the dual WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes started after the AMPTP's failure to negotiate a fair contract.
What could We're Still the Millers be about?
At this point, over a decade later, "We're Still the Millers" would have to take a pretty drastically different approach to the story than if a sequel had been made directly following the first film's success. Casey (Emma Roberts) and Kenny (Will Poulter) would be full-grown adults living on their own at this point, canonically entering their late 20s. We would hope that Sarah (Aniston) and David (Sudeikis) would have lived happily ever after, but it wouldn't be surprising if the duo drove each other mad and wound up having a messy divorce.
However, 10 years is plenty of time for drug lords Pablo Chacon (Sisley) or Brad Gurdlinger (Helms) to possibly get out of prison on good behavior, or break out on a revenge plot. So even if the family has splintered off and gone their own ways, the release of either of the drug lords could force the family to once again work together to take them down.
Hell, they could even work directly with the (hopefully) now-retired DEA agent Don Fitzgerald (Offerman) which could give us more Sarah and Edie Fitzgerald (Hahn) comedy gold. While we're at it, let's throw in a cameo from Scottie P. (Mark L. Young) for good measure, who hopefully got his "No Ragrets" chest tattoo covered up with something equally as terrible. Maybe an ugly tiger, or something.
Am I just fantasy-booking my own sequel over here? Yes. Have I also been thinking about what this story would look like for nearly 10 years because I am extremely bummed out that this sequel hasn't happened yet? Also yes. At this point, it's doubtful that "We're Still The Millers" will ever see the light of day.
I guess that's what we get for chasin' waterfalls.