Gerard Butler as John Garrity in Greenland 2: Migration. Courtesy of Lionsgate Share on Facebook Share on X Google Preferred Share to Flipboard Show additional share options Share on LinkedIn Share on Pinterest Share on Reddit Share on Tumblr Share on Whats App Send an Email Print the Article Post a Comment Logo text Filmmaker Ric Roman Waugh is keenly aware that it's a strange time to be releasing a movie called Greenland 2: Migration. Oddly enough, this isn't the first time that the real world has recontextualized one of his films. The former stuntman turned director was in post-production on the 2020 franchise starter, Greenland, when the global pandemic forced him and his team to finish up from their respective homes. Suddenly, several themes and visuals from their disaster thriller about a comet that obliterates the majority of Earth were on display in real time. Whether it was the heroic sacrifices made by medical professionals or the mad dash to hoard essential supplies, both the fictional and nonfictional existential threats brought out the best and the worst in humanity. Gerard Butler's John Garrity had the tall order of getting his estranged wife Allison (Morena Baccarin) and son Nathan from Atlanta, Georgia to an underground bunker in Greenland. Anticipating that the world would have to rebuild itself, the DHS preselected individuals for inclusion in Greenland's emergency shelters, and John's expertise as a structural engineer granted him and his family access. Those who weren't so lucky desperately tried to steal the entry wristbands off of anyone whom the DHS picked. They also sought private planes to Greenland so they could try their luck on site. The STXfilms release was initially slated for a wide theatrical release, but the pandemic forced their hand in the States, resulting in a December 2020 VOD release and subsequent $30 million deal with HBO and HBO Max. The viewership data at home became so overwhelming that a $90 million-budgeted sequel has now arrived in theaters. Waugh credits former STXfilms, current Lionsgate motion picture group chairman, Adam Fogelson, for the timely pivot to streaming, which would ultimately open the door to Greenland 2: Migration. "I was [glass-half-empty about it], and that's why I'm really proud of Adam and his leadership. It was a really audacious move on his part," Waugh tells The Hollywood Reporter. "It saved the now-franchise and put the movie in a place where we got a lot of eyeballs. If we would've been a part of the [congested 2021] crowd, who knows how many people would've really discovered it?" Five years after the events of the first film, the Garrity family must journey across Europe to find a new home after their underground community in Greenland suffered a devastating earthquake. However, in circumstances that were similar to the original film, Waugh was wrapping up Greenland 2 when the real world started to reshape public perception once more. In this case, the actual Greenland was becoming increasingly more relevant and coveted in real life due to the Trump administration's newfound efforts to acquire the Kingdom of Denmark's autonomous territory. Their reasoning for doing so cites U.S. national security, military strategy and untapped natural resources. Even this week, reports emerged that U.S. officials are considering $10K - $100K payments to sway Greenlanders toward supporting American annexation. For Waugh, it's all just clamor that goes well beyond him and his two movies. "I would say we've done a really good job of blocking out the noise. We just stuck to our guns," Waugh says. "We focused on the post-pandemic parallels as society was coming back. The focus definitely wasn't the politics of what's going on with nation building; it was much more about the societal stuff that we were dealing with at the time." Waugh first worked with Butler on 2019's Angel Has Fallen, the third installment in the franchise involving the actor's Secret Service agent character, Mike Banning. While a fourth installment known as Night Has Fallen was reportedly in the works as of 2020, Waugh says the project doesn't have a pulse at the moment. "We haven't cracked it. We haven't had anything where we've said, 'Wow, that would really excite us,'" Waugh admits. Below, during a conversation with THR, Waugh - who also has the Jason Statham-led Shelter releasing later this month - discusses Greenland 2's emotional ending and what lies ahead for the franchise. *** You're one of the few live-action directors to have a VOD pandemic release spawn a theatrically released sequel. Of course, Greenland wasn't made for VOD, but it still took that path. So how did you defy the odds in terms of this sequel? [Lionsgate Motion Picture Group chairman] Adam Fogelson. Simple. Adam was the chairman at STX when we made the first movie, pre-pandemic. Nobody knew what COVID was at the time, and when we were in post-production at Technicolor, I remember hearing all this stuff that was