Ice Cube and Nia Long are officially getting back in the family-comedy lane, and this time, Nick Persons is not battling stepkids in the backseat. He is facing grandkids. The third “Are We There Yet?” movie, titled “Are They Gone Yet?,” is in early development with Skydance Sports after the company acquired the project, according to Deadline.
For fans, that means the new movie is not being pitched as a simple nostalgia grab. The angle is generational. Nick and Suzanne are older, the kids from the original chaos are now grown, and the franchise is shifting from “are we there yet?” parenting stress to “when are they leaving?” grandparent stress. Chris Hazzard and Mike Fontana are writing the script, with Ice Cube, Todd Garner, and Jeff Kwatinetz producing through CubeVision and Broken Road.
Cube framed the return as a full-circle moment, saying audiences “grew up with Nick Persons” and now Nick has grandkids, per Deadline. Nia Long also acknowledged the reunion on social media, writing, “This should be fun.
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What fans should expect first: a family comedy built around aging, blended-family dynamics, and Cube’s signature irritated-dad energy getting upgraded to granddad mode. What has not been announced yet is a release date, director, full cast, production start, or whether Aleisha Allen and Philip Daniel Bolden will return as Lindsey and Kevin. Until those details are confirmed, anything beyond Cube and Long’s reunion is wishful thinking.
The original “Are We There Yet?” hit theaters in 2005 and followed Nick as he tried to impress Suzanne by taking her children on a disaster-filled road trip. The film earned more than $98 million worldwide, according to The Numbers. The 2007 sequel, “Are We Done Yet?,” moved the family into home-renovation mayhem and grossed more than $58 million worldwide, according to Box Office Mojo.
The brand stretched again with a TBS sitcom starring Terry Crews and Essence Atkins, which ran for three seasons after premiering in 2010. Now, almost 20 years after the last movie, “Are They Gone Yet?” sounds ready to test whether Nick and Suzanne still have the same pull, just with louder little people and a lot less patience.
