Tim Burton’s Comments on Nightmare Before Christmas Sequel Will Upset Fans

Hopefully you’re not holding your breath waiting in anticipation for a sequel to The Nightmare Before Christmas. One of the most iconic pieces of holiday pop culture, many have thought the movie might be a perfect candidate for a revival decades after it was first released; after all, Disney has been busy making sequels and follow-ups to projects like Hocus Pocus and The Mighty Ducks. If Tim Burton gets his way, however, the Nightmare franchise will never be touched again.

“I’ve done sequels, I’ve done other things, I’ve done reboots, I’ve done all that shit, right? I don’t want that to happen to this. It’s nice that people are maybe interested [in another one], but I’m not,” Burton said in a recent chat with Empire.

He added, “I feel like that old guy who owns a little piece of property and won’t sell to the big power plant that wants to take my land.”

Composer Danny Elfman, the singing voice of Jack Skellington and the maestro behind the film’s score, shared a similar sentiment when we spoke with him last year.

“I don’t think so,” Elfman told ComicBook.com about a Nightmare follow-up. “I think Tim has always felt that no, this is what it was.”

“But you know, it wouldn’t totally shock me if he came back with… If he had a fresh take on it, I would certainly go for the ride with him,” the composer continued. “But he’s never expressed any interest in that. I think he felt like this was a pure thing and it was what it was and that to try to do sequels on it would, I think it’s just not inspired him. But I won’t ever speak for Tim. It’s his universe.”

Though both Burton and Elfman seem cold on the idea of a sequel, director Henry Selick says a potential prequel or origin could fly. “It might be more interesting to do a prequel,” the director admitted last month. “There might be a more interesting story there about how Jack became the King of Halloweentown.”

The Nightmare Before Christmas is now streaming on Disney+.