Grumpier Old Men is a 1995 romantic comedy film, and a sequel to the 1993 film Grumpy Old Men. The film stars Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau, Ann-Margret, and Sophia Loren, with Burgess Meredith, Daryl Hannah, Kevin Pollak, Katie Sagona, Ann Morgan Guilbert. Grumpier Old Men was directed by Howard Deutch, with the screenplay written by Mark Steven Johnson and the original music score composed by Alan Silvestri. The film was Meredith's final motion picture appearance. He was already suffering from Alzheimer's disease and had to be gently coached through his role in the film.
Grumpier Old Men grossed $71 million domestically on a budget of $25 million. While some have said that this was less successful than the original, Grumpier Old Men beat its predecessor's total of $70 million and cost $10 million less to make than the original. However, critical reception was not as kind, as the film currently only holds an 18% rotten rating on Rotten Tomatoes. However, the movie holds a 65% fresh rating among Rotten Tomatoes' community members.
Following Grumpier Old Men's box-office success, Warner Bros. suggested making a third film in the series entitled Grumpiest Old Men. The plot was going to involve Max and Maria going to Italy on a honeymoon where they are confronted by Maria's ex-husband (to be played by Marcello Mastroianni), who would attempt to contest Maria's marriage to Max on the grounds that his own divorce from Maria was never finalized. Lemmon, Matthau, and Loren were going to commit to making the sequel a few years after Grumpier Old Men. The sequel was never made, however. After Lemmon and Matthau starred in the financial flop Out to Sea in 1997 and the critical and financial disaster The Odd Couple II in 1998, Warner Bros. decided not to make the film. Any potential reconsideration ended with Matthau's 2000 death; Lemmon died eleven months later.
Grumpy Old Men is a conversational-style television programme on BBC2 which debuted in 2003, The first run of four programmes was repeated several times before a second series, also of four episodes, was shown in 2004. A third series aired in April 2006. There were also 2003 & 2004 Christmas specials. An Irish version Gaybo's Grumpy Men was produced by RTÉ in 2005.
