Will There Be A Sequel To Moonfall? Here's What We Know

(Welcome to Will There Be a Sequel?, a series where we answer that question and explore what comes next.)

There are perhaps no other filmmakers in history that can say they blow stuff up good like Roland Emmerich. The man has made a ton of big-budget disaster flicks in his career, ranging from "Independence Day" to "The Day After Tomorrow," and even "2012," which was based on the idea that the Mayans predicted the world would end in that very year. Now, Emmerich is back with his latest gigantic disaster flick, "Moonfall." Much like "2012," it is in part based on the wild "Hollow Moon" theory, which paves the way for some truly insane blockbuster filmmaking.

Those who have seen the movie may have been left with some questions. Chief amongst them is whether or not we are going to get a sequel to "Moonfall." We're here to go over what we know on that front currently and attempt to provide an answer. Let's get into it.

Warning: major spoilers for "Moonfall" ahead. Proceed with caution.

First and foremost, there would need to be a willingness on the part of writer/director Roland Emmerich to make "Moonfall 2" a reality. Luckily, it doesn't seem like that would be a big hurdle to clear, under certain conditions anyhow. In speaking with The Hollywood Reporter, the filmmaker explained that he doesn't feel outright compelled to make a sequel, but would if the stars align. Here's what he had to say about it:

"I don't have to. If it's an enormous, enormous success, why not? What I will then do, is do two and three together. And have a real, clear cliffhanger [in between]."

So there is a decent amount to unpack there. Emmerich, primarily, seems perfectly content to leave sleeping dogs lie should that be where it lands. But if it's an "enormous" success (and we'll get into what that might look like later) then things might change. Should that come to pass, he would make not one but two sequels back-to-back. For what it's worth, he had originally talked about doing something similar with "Independence Day: Resurgence" but that didn't exactly pan out. That having been said, the breadcrumbs have been laid out for a sequel at least.

Patrick Wilson plays one of the main characters as a disgraced astronaut named Brian Harper. Not to spoil too much here, but Brian does make it through the whole moon falling business. During a recent chat with ScreenRant, Wilson addressed Emmerich's possible sequels. While the actor had talked a bit with the filmmaker about it, things seem very ill-defined for now.

"I have no idea. He said this to me, and I've heard this from other people. But it's never been like, 'Oh, here's the idea.' Because he's always so cool about it: 'You know, I have this idea about the second or third one.' Then you're like, 'Well, what is it?' and he goes, 'Oh I don't know...' So, I have no idea. I don't know. I don't know if he wants me to be in it, so I'm always afraid to ask. Because you don't want to be like, 'That sounds great, man. It'll be fun.' 'Oh, no, no. It doesn't involve you.' I don't want to feel left out, so I just don't ask anything."

To further hammer away a point made by Emmerich, Wilson also referenced the realities of getting a sequel made and what it might take for these bigger plans to get underway.

"I'm sure. But that's the thing: he's also very realistic. And he's like, 'Look, it's hard to get any movie made.' So, that's obviously only if the movie does well. If the movie doesn't do well, yeah, then there is no two and three."

All of this to say, from Wilson's end at least, nothing has been set in stone. Though it does seem very hard to believe that a sequel would happen without Brian returning to once again save the Earth from the moon.

Without taking up 2,000 words worth of your time to go over the entirety of the bonkers third act of "Moonfall," it is completely clear that the stage was set for a possible continuation. This all hinges on John Bradley's character KC, who ended up sacrificing himself to save humanity during the film's climax. While Patrick Wilson's Brian Harper was ready to stay with the rover and detonate the EMP to take out the advanced AI that was threatening life as we know it, KC took the reins and opted to become a hero himself.

After we get through the hero moments at the end of the movie with everyone on Earth seemingly grateful that the moon didn't totally fall, we get a little tag that helps tee up the ball for a potential sequel. It turns out that KC didn't totally perish in his heroic act. The OS that was running the moon and was created by our ancient ancestors actually copied KC's consciousness, allowing him to become part of the moon itself. The closing moments see the OS telling KC that they need to get to work. On what, precisely? That is what would seemingly be explored in the proposed sequels. One can only assume that this was just one event that humanity avoided. Danger may still be lurking in the cosmos.

Now for the big question; how likely is it that Lionsgate will eventually give the green light to "Moonfall 2" (and possibly "Moonfall 3). This all goes back to the amount of money the first movie needs to make in order to become a huge success. The budget is said to be in the $140 million range, which is pretty much what a big superhero movie costs. That means it will need to make quite a bit at the box office. In the pandemic era, $400 million worldwide seems to be the new benchmark for pretty solid success with a blockbuster release, give or take. Disaster movies vary wildly from the biggest of big flops like "Geostorm" to humungous hits like "2012."

The other element here is that Emmerich has specifically said it would need to be an "enormous" success for him to want to return. What does that look like? Would $500 million worldwide be enough? Or is he talking pie-in-the-sky numbers like $750 million, which seems completely out of reach for almost any movie at this stage in the game? It's tough to say but, at the very least, if enough people show up around the world, this could happen.

"Moonfall" is in theaters now.

In Moonfall, a mysterious force knocks the Moon from its orbit around Earth and sends it hurtling on a collision course with life as we know it. With mere weeks before impact and the world on the brink of annihilation, NASA executive and former astronaut Jo Fowler (Academy Award® winner Halle Berry) is convinced she has the key to saving us all – but only one astronaut from her past, Brian Harper (Patrick Wilson, "Midway") and a conspiracy theorist K.C. Houseman (John Bradley, "Game of Thrones") believes her. These unlikely heroes will mount an impossible last-ditch mission into space, leaving behind everyone they love, only to find out that our Moon is not what we think it is.