Violent Night 2 is coming to town

You better watch out. You better not cry. You better not pout, we’re telling you: Santa Claus will kill you. At least the Santa Claus played by David Harbour in the surprise holiday smash Violent Night will. Unfortunately for terrorist grinches looking to disrupt Christmas with their Christmas-stealing ways, those rules continue to apply. Per The Wrap, director Tommy Wirkola confirmed that he was toiling away at a sequel.

Released in December 2022, Violent Night grossed around $75 million at the worldwide box office. For an established I.P. like Santa Claus, it’s hard to tell if that’s a success. Under normal circumstances, it would probably spell doom for the Christmas Cinematic Universe, which was already struggling to keep audiences following the release of The Santa Clauses on Disney+. That said, there’s clearly still an appetite for the twisted adventures of Kris Kringle. Thankfully, Wirkola and his Violent Night screenwriters Pat Casey and Josh Miller “have time to really crack the script and figure out the story”—always a good idea before rolling the cameras (just a tip for aspiring filmmakers out there). “We have some ideas,” Wirkola said. “Me and Pat and Josh and the producers, we’ve been talking about where we want to take it and what we want to see.”

The continued Deadpool-ification of Santa will again play on the first film’s twist on the mythos. And while Santa got a chance to show off his naughty side, what of the elves, Mrs. Claus, and the labor conditions on the North Pole? Wirkola is also wondering:

There’s stuff we left on the floor like the North Pole, Mrs. Claus, the elves, but story-wise I think we have a really, really cool idea that expands on the world and scope, but still keeping that tone that we love from the first one.

It seems unlikely that a sequel will be ready in time for Christmas, but we’ll be sure to put it on the top of our list. Just make sure there are no terrorists around when jolly ol’ Saint Nick comes down the chimney.