MGM/Warner Bros/HBO Max
- Warner Bros. has announced that a sequel to 1983’s A Christmas Story is in the works.
- Peter Billingsley, who played Ralphie in the original film, will star in the sequel.
- Production on the project is slated to begin in February.
While the holiday season may be over for most people, Christmas never sleeps in Hollywood, as Warner Bros. announced on Thursday night that a sequel to the beloved film A Christmas Story is in the works.
The film will be titled A Christmas Story Christmas and will release on HBO Max. The project is set to be directed by Clay Kaytis, who helmed the successful The Christmas Chronicles for Netflix back in 2018. Kaytis also has an extensive history as an animator, having worked on 2013’s Frozen and directed 2016’s The Angry Birds Movie. Production on A Christmas Story Christmas will begin in February.
While the original movie followed Ralphie, a nine-year old boy who desperately wanted a Red Ryder BB rifle and was set in 1940, the new story will take place in the 1970s and sees an adult Ralphie return to his house on Cleveland Street to deliver his kids a magical Christmas like the one he had growing up.
The studio is hoping to recreate the same real-life tone of the first movie to show the now-father reconnect with childhood friends, reconcile the passing of his Old Man, and callbacks to the initial film. [via The Hollywood Reporter]
Following the announcement, movie fans took to Twitter to react to reports that one of the most beloved modern Christmas movies is getting a follow-up:
Technically, this will be the third sequel to A Christmas Story. There are multiple timelines you see. A Ralphie-Verse if you will. pic.twitter.com/a8POKPpAxg
— Eric Goldman (@TheEricGoldman) January 20, 2022
Watching ‘A Christmas Story’ is an annual holiday tradition in my house and even I don’t want this. https://t.co/HZmuPBK5PD
— Lesley Goldberg (@Snoodit) January 20, 2022
Oh this warms my heart. Like a lot. A Christmas Story will never fully & completely be A Christmas Story without Bob Clark & Jean Shepherd but bringing Peter Billingsley back is a damn fine start. Love this approach and I've been hoping for exactly this for a long time. https://t.co/CkqCfDk56w
— John Squires (@FreddyInSpace) January 21, 2022
“When unforeseen events trigger the suppressed memory of a public humiliation, A reformed bully snaps, gets a gun and returns to his hometown to settle an old score.”
‘A Christmas Story 2: Scut’s Revenge’ https://t.co/buWgscZnJ7 pic.twitter.com/BlPdvbIB6f
— Roy Wood Jr- Ex Jedi (@roywoodjr) January 21, 2022
This is A CHRISTMAS STORY 2 erasure and…that’s fine. https://t.co/LOssCknB1o pic.twitter.com/ktWPGzrQOr
— Dan Scully (@DanScully) January 21, 2022
Wasn’t there already A Christmas Story 2 and it was a fail?! 😶
IDK why this is necessary.. but OG Ralphie will be in it?! 🤔 pic.twitter.com/iGG410qFfW
— 𝕄𝕖𝕝𝕚𝕤𝕤𝕒 🖤 (@melissax1125) January 21, 2022
HBO Max subscribers when they're forced to only watch A Christmas Story 2 on Christmas pic.twitter.com/a0NgTqkx0p
— Pon #BLM (@liaterallyreal) January 20, 2022
"They did a remake in 2012 and that was trash." @brookbanktv on A Christmas Story 😂
— Meg Shaw (@MegDShaw) January 21, 2022
for the people keeping track at home this will be the third consecutive christmas story sequel that ignores previous sequels https://t.co/GiSEq7lmPs
— jacob (@jacobdotgov) January 21, 2022
I dare you to find a movie with more direct sequels than A Christmas Story. pic.twitter.com/SrlqnX6JTL
— Kiern (@KiernnGC) January 21, 2022
A Christmas Story works as a stand-alone movie. It doesn't need a sequel. It got sequels, they sucked. Idc if the original actor is coming back, it doesn't guarantee quality https://t.co/uzx3LtkRQy
— Dream Big✨ (@dream_big2015) January 21, 2022
While a release date has not been confirmed, given that production is set to begin in February, there’s a chance that A Christmas Story Christmas is ready to release for the 2022 holiday season.
The original A Christmas Story hit theaters in the United States on November 18, 1983, and has since become an immortalized Christmas classic. In addition to the returning Billingsley, A Christmas Story also starred Jean Shepherd, Ian Petrella, Melinda Dillon, Darren McGavin, Scott Schwartz, R.D. Robb, Zack Ward, and Tedde Moore.
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