‘Are They Gone Yet?’: New ‘Are We There Yet?’ Sequel is Officially in the Works!!

Everything’s coming up Ice Cube when it comes to the rapper-turned-actor’s beloved comedy franchises. Earlier this month, news broke that he was in talks to reprise his role as Captain Dickson in a long-awaited third installment of the 21 Jump Street franchise, titled 24 Jump Street, alongside Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill. This year also brought word that Cube was also discussing a reunion with Kevin Hart for another Ride Along film, after writer Daniel Gold delivered a script that finally got the team excited for another shift in the buddy cop series. Even the Friday franchise has been making steady progress towards its return following the reveal that Last Friday would finally conclude the ever-quotable smash hit after two decades and, hopefully, bring back as many familiar faces as possible.

According to a new report, yet another Ice Cube-centric comedy is now mounting a comeback. 19 years after the last installment arrived in theaters, Are We There Yet? is officially in development through Skydance Sports, with both him and Nia Long back in the fold as Nick and Suzanne. Chris Hazzard and Mike Fontana, the duo behind the live-action Teddy Ruxpin movie announced last year, are penning the screenplay for Are They Gone Yet?, which will follow the couple as they now welcome grandkids into the fold. It’ll be a new chapter and a much greater challenge for the couple that Cube is excited to navigate for a new audience, saying in a statement:

“We built something special with this franchise. Audiences grew up with Nick Persons, and now Nick’s got grandkids. Time flies. Partnering with Skydance to bring this story to a new generation is exactly the kind of move CubeVision was built for, and I am excited for the new partnership.”

Where Did ‘Are We There Yet?’ Leave Off?

Exact plot details for the next adventure of Nick and Suzanne’s growing unit are unknown at this time, but it’s bound to bring a new level of familial chaos to the table like its predecessors. Kicking off in 2005, the original Are We There Yet? followed Nick as he attempted to win over recent divorcee Suzanne by agreeing to take her kids Lindsey (Aleisha Allen) and Kevin (Philip Bolden) to their grandmother’s house. Following a mishap at the airport, however, what should’ve been a simple flight quickly devolves into a nightmare road trip in Nick’s precious Lincoln Navigator. Against all odds, though, they end up bonding, and Nick and Suzanne get together, leading into Are We Done Yet? in 2007, which takes the happy family to the suburbs, where their hopes of owning a dream home are complicated by an eccentric contractor (John C. McGinley). The frustrating house-building experience did end on a happy note, though, with the family welcoming twin sons to the fold.

Although neither film received glowing praise from critics, they were box-office hits, raking in a total of $156 million collectively. A sitcom was even commissioned at TBS in 2010 to capitalize on the success, with Terry Crews and Essence Atkins starring across three seasons. No director is currently attached to the third film after Brian Levant and Steve Carr helmed the first two. Skydance Sports will hope whoever takes the reins for Are They Gone Yet? can revitalize the family comedy for the modern day. To this point, the banner already has one notable production success under its belt in Ben Affleck‘s Air, and has Mr. Irrelevant: The John Tuggle Story coming in December with Superman star David Corenswet playing the Giants quarterback.