Chris Columbus Still Hopes to Make a Mrs. Doubtfire Documentary

It’s been over three decades since the late Robin Williams became the world’s funniest nanny in Mrs. Doubtfire. Because Williams passed away in 2014, director Chris Columbus has no plans to make a sequel. However, a documentary about the making of the film is on the table.

“We’re actively trying to make a Mrs. Doubtfire documentary,” Columbus told Digital Trends while promoting his latest movie, The Thursday Murder Club. “The Mrs. Doubtfire documentary, at this stage, and documentaries take on a life of their own, is basically about Robin’s process.”

For the film’s 30th anniversary in 2023, Columbus told Insider that there are roughly “972 boxes of footage” from Mrs. Doubtfire, which comes to about two million feet of film. The boxes contain footage used in the final cut along with countless outtakes, bloopers, and behind-the-scenes moments.

Williams was a master of improvisation. According to Columbus, Williams would shoot two to three takes that followed the script. After that, the comedic legend would improvise and show off a creativity that remains unmatched. In Williams’ words, it was time to “play.”

“He had such a unique process and such a, for lack of a better word, divine process in terms of how he worked that no one else I’ve worked with since has been like that,” Columbus said. “I wanted to show people exactly what his process was.”

In Mrs. Doubtfire, Williams played voice actor Daniel Hillard, a recently divorced man who can no longer freely see his children. Unable to accept his new custody rules, Daniel disguises himself as an old British woman known as Mrs. Euphegenia Doubtfire and gets hired as the children’s nanny.

Released in 1993, Mrs. Doubtfire became the second-highest-grossing movie of the year with a worldwide gross of $441 million. The film won Golden Globes for Best Motion Picture — Musical or Comedy, and Williams won Best Actor in a Motion Picture — Musical or Comedy.

Mrs. Doubtfire went on to win the Oscar for Best Makeup.

Stream Mrs. Doubtfire on Disney+.