The Most Popular Christmas Movie Of All Time Is Getting A Sequel
One of the most popular Christmas movies of all-time is now, surprisingly, getting a sequel. It will be interesting to see how they play this
Almost 40 years after its debut, the holiday movie classic A Christmas Story is finally getting a sequel with original star Peter Billingsley set to reprise his role. A Christmas Story 2 is currently in development by Warner Bros. and Legendary Entertainment for release on HBO Max. While not confirmed, Deadline says that Airplane star Julie Hagerty will play Billingsley’s mother.
A Christmas Story 2 will be directed by Clay Kaytis (of The Christmas Chronicles fame) from a script by Nick Schenk – who previously worked on Cry Macho and The Mule. Vince Vaughn is producing under the Wild West Picture Show Productions banner he runs with Peter Billingsley. Cale Boyter and Jay Ashenfelter will oversee for Legendary. Production is set to start at the end of February in Hungary.
The story will follow an adult Ralphie (Peter Billingsley) in the 1970s, who returns to his childhood home on Cleveland Street to give his kids a magical Christmas – like the one he had growing up. With the same attention to the real-life tone of the first movie, Ralphie reconnects with childhood friends, reconciles the passing of his father (the Old Man), and sews the seeds for the origins of the beloved holiday classic. A Christmas Story 2 also promises a lot of callbacks to the original.
Released in 1983, A Christmas Story was a box office failure when it first hit the big screen. But over the years, the film has become one of the most beloved holiday movies in cinema history. It’s now aired annually as a Christmas special by WarnerMedia, which currently owns the rights to the movie. A lot of the story’s appeal is its simplicity. The film is presented in a series of vignettes, with a grown-up Ralphie Parker reminiscing about one particular Christmas when he was nine years old. And all he wanted was a Red Ryder Carbine-Action 200-shot Range Model air rifle. It will interestingly to see if A Christmas Story 2 will follow a similar layout.
Since his breakout role as Ralphie in A Christmas Story, Peter Billingsley focused on his movie career behind the camera. As a director, he’s had success with hits like Couples Retreat starring Vaughn. As producers, Billingsley and Vaughn have developed multiple films through Wild West Picture Show including The Break-Up, Four Christmases, Couples Retreat, and F Is For Family. So it’s not surprising that the duo is working together on A Christmas Story 2.
Billingsley has also produced the Broadway musical A Christmas Story: The Musical which received three Tony nominations – including one for Best Musical. To commemorate the 35th anniversary of A Christmas Story in 2018, Billingsley credited the film’s director, the late Bob Clark, for mentoring his transition to working behind the camera. Speaking to Variety he said Clark was very encouraging and supportive. He also recalled how he would visit him on sets. They would also talk and play golf together.
There is currently no information about when A Christmas Story Christmas (or A Christmas Story 2) will be released on HBO Max.
