Plans for a Violent Night sequel are teased by one of the movie's producers following David Harbour's successful debut as a brutal Santa Claus.
Violent Night 2 could be in the works according to a producer for the action-packed first installment, which stars David Harbour. Violent Night premiered in theaters this week, introducing Harbour's gritty and ruthless take on Santa Claus in an intense and comedic Christmas-themed romp. Directed by Tommy Wirkola, the movie follows a world-weary Santa who is roped into vigilantism when the wealthy family he is delivering gifts to is taken hostage by a band of mercenaries. While Santa's first kill in the film is accidental, he soon leans into the bloodshed and elects to slaughter the remaining enemies in order to save Trudy (Leah Brady), a child who still believes in Santa.
There is plenty of ground left to explore in a potential Violent Night 2, since major parts of the Santa Claus mythology, including the North Pole, Santa's elves, and Mrs. Claus, did not appear in Violent Night. While speaking with Collider, a Violent Night producer, Kelly McCormick, discusses the possibility for a sequel to the gory holiday flick. McCormick, who also served as a producer for 2021's Nobody starring Bob Odenkirk, states that her team is working on Nobody 2 as well as "a lot of originals," and they hope to add Violent Night 2 to the docket "if everything goes well the next few weeks." See what the producer says below:
"We're hoping to start working on a ‘Violent Night 2,’ if everything goes well the next few weeks. We have a tendency to just keep our heads down and focus on what's in front of us, or near. So yeah, that's kind of it. We're in it. We still have two and a half months of work to do on this one.”
McCormick's comments seem to point to the movie's box office performance as a major factor that will determine whether a sequel is feasible. With Violent Night's reported budget of $20 million and its opening weekend gross of $13.3 million, the action-packed holiday movie is off to a solid start in terms of box office numbers. As Christmas gets closer, it's likely that more viewers will be inclined to get into the spirit of the season by heading out to the theater to watch the Harbour-led film.
Violent Night has earned mostly positive reviews thus far, with audiences in particular seeming to enjoy the R-rated Christmas movie and comparing it to a mix of Die Hard and Home Alone. Viewers have praised the cast, especially Harbour and main villain John Leguizamo, as well as the successful blending of genres that made Violent Night hilariously twisted while retaining a magical message. Given the response from the audience, it's possible that Violent Night will become a word-of-mouth hit, leading the producers to take the sequel into more serious consideration.