Nightmare Before Christmas 2 In The Works?
Directors are often asked plenty about sequels to their most popular features. That is what happened for Henry Selick who was asked if Nightmare Before Christmas 2 would happen.
Nightmare Before Christmas might be one of the most popular films in cinema history. Even more than that, it happens to be one of the most popular stop-motion animation features in cinema history. The same can be said for Coraline. Both films were directed by Henry Selick. Selick is currently promoting his new film, Wendell & Wild, and was asked if there is ever a possibility that Nightmare Before Christmas 2 would ever happen. According to Selick, “People have always wanted a sequel for Nightmare and Coraline. If there’s a good story, it might be worth doing. But too frequently, sequels are just a remake of the first film with some mild changes.”
He does have a point in that most sequels employ some of the same plotlines, jokes, and characters that make them seem to just turn into a rehashing of the first film. However, there have been some successful sequels lately that have possibly made the idea of sequels being successful seem a bit more doable. Take Top Gun: Maverick, for instance. The film did take a lot of elements of the original film but turned it into something completely new. That worked out completely, leaving the film to make over $1.4 billion in worldwide box office numbers. It did take some 30 years for that film to happen, and the same would be said for Nightmare Before Christmas 2. The original film was released nearly 30 years ago, and it might be worth revisiting again.
While we would love to see a Nightmare Before Christmas 2 be spoken about by Tim Burton, that might not ever happen. The man is currently busy with his new Wednesday series on Netflix, and likely does not want to touch the greatness that the first Nightmare Before Christmas film still holds to this day. Every Halloween and Christmas season, the film is watched and streamed a ridiculous number of times. That’s not to mention Disneyland always alters their Haunted Mansion ride set up to showcase the film as well. The merchandise alone is everywhere still too. It could be the type of movie that should stay as special as is, without having to try and continue the story of Jack Skellington and Sally.
The good news in Selick’s comment is that he believes a good story might bring about Nightmare Before Christmas 2. For all we know, Tim Burton could have written that story some time ago and wishes to revisit the world at some point in his career. There are plenty of films that came out some 30 years ago that are now being revisited. Hocus Pocus is another of those films that was quite special for the generation that grew up with it, and it is now receiving a sequel. The fandom for Nightmare Before Christmas is still quite strong but introducing another new generation to the sequel film might work out.
Henry Selick’s Wendell & Wild will premiere on Netflix on October 28th. The film looks to be like the same type of stop-motion madness that Selick is an expert at making. Who knows, maybe if this film does well enough, we could be seeing the man start to think about pushing for Nightmare Before Christmas 2 to happen soon.
