[Tom4784]

by IGN TV
US, July 31, 2009 - Rejoice! Reports are coming in that the cast of Futurama is returning! The Star is reporting that the cast has signed new deals with 20th Century Fox already. All of this comes hot on the heels of some nail-biting salary negotiations and a "no show" for the voice cast during the San Diego Comic-Con panel last weekend.

We contacted 20th Century Fox this afternoon for confirmation on the stories coming in and while it seems The Star might have been a bit premature saying the deals are done, what we hear is also very optimistic. 20th informed us that voice actor Maurice LaMarche ("Kif Kroker"/Additional Voices) posted that he would be returning on his Facebook page, and that deals with the rest of the cast are imminent and will hopefully be finalized by the end of the day.



At Comic-Con this past weekend, IGN TV spoke to John DiMaggio ("Bender") about the situation and he told us he was hopeful a deal would be made. Luckily, it looks like his hopes – and the fans – have paid off.

Update: According to sources at 20th Century Fox, Billy West and John DiMaggio have not yet signed, but are close. However, Katey Sagal, Maurice LaMarche and Tress MacNeille are reportedly confirmed to have signed.

Update 2: And now we're completely in the clear! We just got this word from 20th Century Fox: "Just wanted you to know that we now have deals with the entire Futurama voice cast to return: John DiMaggio, Maurice LaMarche, Billy West, Tress MacNeille and Katey Sagal."

Futurama creators Matt Groening and David X. Cohen released this statement: "We are thrilled to have our incredible cast back. The call has already gone out to the animators to put the mouths back on the characters."

Who wants to bet there is at least one reference to all of this madness in an upcoming episode?

From IGN.

HUZZAH!!!!

Thank god for that, The new series would have died on it's arse with a new cast.