Speculation of Futurama's return until the second run

The future of Futurama is the future of the show, rather than the future it describes. As of March, 2009, a return of Futurama seems more and more likely.

The hiatus

After 3-4 years of hiatus due to cancellation, the show saw new light when season 5 was ordered. Season 5, unlike prior seasons, saw its light as four films cut into episodes, which would ultimately become production season 5.

There have been a general concern with the film format for Futurama, and most fear that it doesn't fit the show, and would prefer Futurama back as a weekly show.

Aftermath of the films

When Bender's Game had been released, David X. Cohen appeared in an interview, expressing hope for the show to be picked up once more. He puts it, "[h]ope never dies on Futurama, or not anymore," explaining it with "[i]t died once, but once you introduce the idea that you can come back from the dead, then the second time you have to have a little bit of hope that you might come back to life yet again."

But Cohen's hope is not without reasoning, "[t]he hard facts would seem to support us coming back again. From what we have heard, the DVDs have sold very well, and I have heard the phrase 'greatly exceeded' 20th Century Fox's expectations", but warns fans not to get too excited just yet, because "[w]e haven't heard anything, yes or no, so it's familiar territory."

Rumours of talks with FOX and speculation

Nearing the release of Into the Wild Green Yonder, HippoJuice made an interview with Billy West at South Florida Anime Supercon. Among other things, Billy talks about a possible sixth season being in discussion internally at Fox.

totalfilm.com talked to Futurama producers Matt Groening and David X. Cohen plus the four voice actors Billy West, Lauren Tom, Maurice Lamarche, and Phil LaMarr and discussed "9 Odd Things We Now Know About Futurama".

The ninth odd thing is about the possibility of Futurama returning:

Matt Groening: We would love to continue making more Futurama episodes in whatever form... Except Pogs. I think we haven't even exhausted all the story ideas that we came up with back when the show started in '99.
David X. Cohen: Every morning, and I'm not making this up, I find myself thinking in the shower about the next episode that we'll do after this one. I have it mostly worked out, so we're ready to go if the call comes in. There is a chance of it coming back as the DVDs sold well.
Matt Groening: You have a solution? We painted ourselves into a corner at the end of this one, but I think we can do whatever we want.

movieweb.com conducted an interview with Matt Groening, David X Cohen, Maurice LaMarche, Lauren Tom, Phil Lamarr and Billy West. Among other things, they talk about a possible sixth season. This supports the information in the prior interviews. In an IGN interview with Cohen, Cohen mentions "[t]he good news is it really might happen. And the bad news is it really might happen".

David X. Cohen goes further in his indication, and indicates there is a 50/50 chance of the show getting renewed for a sixth season. In addition to that, he continues discuss his plans for the future of the show, given the corner they have painted themselves in at the end of Into the Wild Green Yonder.

The actual talks

The British tabloid, ZOO, published a full page interview with Matt Groening, where he states that Futurama will be back in some form. However, as a tabloid, its news should taken with a grain of salt. On the other hand, Matt mentions in the interview, that "[w]e're talking with 20th Century Fox and we really hope it happens". Which differs largely from prior interviews, where the crew stated that Fox were discussing it, internally.

In addition, Matt Groening seems to be leaning towards the theatrical release of Futurama, rather than a weekly TV show. But right now, no official word from Fox have been made of the type Futurama will return in.

After a period of quiet, Matt Groening appeared in an interview for the A.V. Club, in which he describes that they are not holding their breath, because in the television industry it is so easy to just say no. However, he suggests it would be financially smart to repurchase Futurama.

On the radio show, Coast to Coast AM, Billy West again mentions that the negotiations are still going, but also encourage fans to write letters and e-mails to Fox, which might help their course.