Violent Night is sure to give audiences a different Christmas treat than they’ve ever had before at the movies. While some of the best Santa Claus movies show the jolly-hearted bearded man spreading Christmas joy, there are also ones like Bad Santa and Violent Night that give Santa Claus the R-rated treatment that mature audiences can enjoy during the holiday season. Regarding the latter movie, Violent Night’s producer shared an exciting update on whether or not this Christmas action-comedy will get the sequel treatment.
Violent Night provides David Harbour, best known for playing Hopper in the Netflix series Stranger Things, the opportunity to promise season beatings as a savage Santa in this violent Home Alone/Die Hard twist of Santa saving a family being held hostage in their home. The Christmas movie’s producer Kelly McCormick told Collider that a Violent Night 2 would definitely be on her Christmas wish list.
We’re working on a lot of originals right now. We are also working on a ‘Nobody 2.’ 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.
It’s a good sign that McCormick is waiting to see how the results will pan out over the next few weeks. After all, if the box office numbers disappoint, it’s a signal that this savage Santa will not be flying across our theater screens again anytime soon. So far, Violent Night is heading off to a good start. When the newly released movie arrived in theaters last Friday, it ended up being in second place against first place’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, making $13.3 million that weekend. That’s impressive since it was projected to gross around $10 million on its opening weekend. If things go according to plan, maybe we can get a new Violent Night movie every Christmas season for a few years.
As for what the critics are saying about the Christmas dark comedy, the responses have been positive for the most part. Reviews have said that David Harbour made quite the impression as this brutal Santa and the film doesn’t hold back from its violent premise. CinemaBlend’s review of Violent Night said it excelled at providing audiences with a mix of comedy, brutality, and heartwarming moments. The critic’s score of Rotten Tomatoes is currently at 70% with an audience rating of 90%. So if audiences loved it that much, I think a sequel is guaranteed to be in Santa’s Christmas bag.
If a sequel were to come about, maybe Santa Claus can have a partner in crime in the form of Mrs. Claus. If producers and writers need any casting suggestions, David Harbour has the perfect Mrs. Claus in mind: Charlize Theron! He felt like she was a total badass taking on fight scenes in David Leitch’s Atomic Blonde. She would have to find time away from her already busy schedule to take part in the project, especially if a potential Atomic Blonde 2 movie were to come. Or like director Tommy Wirkola said, maybe it can be a surprise. With the way the internet works today, they would really have to keep the casting low-key.
It looks like Violent Night 2 wouldn’t be so left-field if David Harbour’s new Christmas movie proves to be a success. You can help contribute to that success by getting your tickets for Violent Night in theaters now.