Honey, I Shrunk the Kids Sequel May Not Happen

It looks as though the Honey, I Shrunk the Kids sequel may be in trouble.

Shrunk star Josh Gad has taken to Twitter to give fans an update about the long-awaited sequel. Unfortunately, it’s not exactly good news.

“A lot of you ask me what’s going on with this film,” he said. “Truth is, we were inches from starting, and then COVID hit, inches from starting again, and then my schedule exploded with conflicts, inches from starting again, and budget got the best of us. If you want it, let your local Disney know.”

A lot of u ask me what’s going on with this film. Truth is, we were inches from starting and then COVID hit, inches from starting again & then my schedule exploded with conflicts, inches from starting again & budget got the best of us. If you want it, let your local @disney know. pic.twitter.com/H5l24DQyoU

— Josh Gad (@joshgad) June 26, 2023

Shrunk has been in the works since 2019 and was originally intended as a Disney+ film before reportedly switching to a theatrical release. Shrunk was set to star Josh Gad as the grown-up Nick Szalinski (played by Robert Oliveri in the original movies).

It’s been described as a “legacyequel” – a sort-of sequel to the original films that’s intended to kick-start a franchise all of its own. It was also supposed to see the return of the legendary Rick Moranis who played madcap scientist Wayne Szalinski in the original film and its sequels: Honey, I Blew Up the Kid and the straight-to-video release, Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves.

Although only rumored, Gad has since confirmed Moranis’ return.

He is ?

— Josh Gad (@joshgad) June 26, 2023

Obviously, this is a big deal, as Moranis effectively retired from acting back in 1997 with Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves as his last acting role. He later explained his decision to step away from the limelight:

“I’m a single parent and I just found that it was too difficult to manage to raise my kids and to do the traveling involved in making movies,” he told USA Today. “So, I took a little bit of a break. And the little bit of a break turned into a longer break, and then I found that I really didn’t miss it. In the last few years, I’ve been offered a number of parts in movies, and I’ve just turned them down. I don’t know whether I’ll go back to it or not.”

Clearly, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids means a lot to Moranis, after all, not even Ghostbusters: Afterlife was able to convince him to return for a cameo. Now, with Shrunk in jeopardy, it looks as though his return to the big screen may no longer be on the cards. That is unless Disney can be convinced to forge ahead with this long-awaited sequel.

Want to read more about Disney movies? Check out every upcoming Disney live-action remake as well as our review of The Little Mermaid.

Ryan Leston is an entertainment journalist and film critic for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.