A Christmas Story Has Even More Sequels Than You Realize

A Christmas Story has played on countless screens every December since its release in 1983, yet many are not aware that multiple sequels to the holiday classic exist. Directed by Bob Clark, A Christmas Story tells the tale of Ralphie Parker, who recounts Christmas as a nine-year-old boy when all he wanted was a Red Ryder Range 200-Shot BB Gun. Peter Billingsley starred as young Ralphie, while Jean Shepherd voiced the character’s adult self. A Christmas Story is considered one of the most beloved holiday flicks of all time.

Although the original film is the most eminent rendition of Ralphie and the Parker family’s endeavors, A Christmas Story has five sequels that most movie-watchers have missed. Each ensuing title exists apart from the others, and some actors even reprise their roles in the sequels. A Christmas Story‘s successors don’t share its shining reputation, but they may still be worth checking out during this year’s festivities.

A Christmas Story’s 5 Sequels Explained

The first sequel to 1983’s A Christmas Story arrived just two years later with the release of the PBS TV movie The Star-Crossed Romance of Josephine Cosnowski, which was part of the American Playhouse anthology series. Written and narrated by Shepherd, as well as inspired by his own life, the film revolves around a high-school-aged Ralphie set during the late 1940s to early 1950s. In 1988, a subsequent film titled Ollie Hopnoodle’s Haven of Bliss, based on Shepherd’s short story of the same name, premiered on the network.

Clark returned to direct 1994’s It Runs in the Family, which received a limited theatrical release and was later retitled My Summer Story. The follow-up features Kieran Culkin as Ralphie, while Shepherd and Tedde Moore reprise their roles as the voice of adult Ralphie and Miss Shields. The film’s narrative follows different members of the Parker family during their summer adventures. In 2012, director Brian Levant made A Christmas Story 2, which exists separately from My Summer Story. The sequel stars Braeden Lemasters as 16-year-old Ralphie, who sets his sights on a new car and the girl of his dreams in the film. Home Alone star Daniel Stern also appears in A Christmas Story 2, portraying The Old Man.

[RELATED: Where to Watch A Christmas Story in 2024]

The most recent follow-up to 1983’s A Christmas Story is the 2022 standalone sequel A Christmas Story Christmas, directed by Clay Kaytis. In this film, Billingsley returns to play Ralphie, who is now an adult in the 1970s. Numerous other actors from the original A Christmas Story reprise their roles in A Christmas Story Christmas, such as Ian Petrella as Randy Parker, Zack Ward as Scut Farkus, Scott Schwartz as Flick, and R.D. Robb as Schwartz. The film chronicles Ralphie’s adult life as he revisits his childhood home on Cleveland Street and reconnects with his old friends.

Why A Christmas Story‘s Sequels Aren’t as Popular as the Original

It can easily be stated that A Christmas Story‘s five sequels have all failed to reach the same level of popularity and success as their predecessor. Neither critics nor audiences were entranced by My Summer Story, as it holds a score of 45 on Metacritic and a 44% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. A Christmas Story 2 wooed just 36% of Rotten Tomatoes viewers. A Christmas Story Christmas marked a slight improvement from the other sequels with its 55 Metacritic score and 75% Rotten Tomatoes audience score. However, compared to A Christmas Story‘s 89% Rotten Tomatoes critic and audience ratings and 77 Metacritic score, it’s clear that the original film’s sequels didn’t capture the same magic.

The reason for A Christmas Story‘s sequel shortcomings boils down to the impossible task of replicating a classic standalone project. Similarly, neither Home Alone 2: Lost in New York nor Home Alone 3 lived up to 1990’s Home Alone despite the former focusing on all of the same characters. Other Christmas fan-favorites like How the Grinch Stole Christmas, It’s a Wonderful Life, The Polar Express, and Elf have remained timeless stories without a sequel in sight. Holiday movies reach icon status through their originality and ability to capture viewers’ hearts through unique characters in unique narratives, and it’s rare to achieve that feat more than once. Thus, sequels come across as superfluous when the original title is so adored by the masses.

As of now, there are no more A Christmas Story sequels in the works. Even so, given the unending success of the 1983 movie, a future follow-up project or remake could materialize. Moreover, sequels appear to be in studios’ best interest at the moment, as they make up each of 2024’s 10 highest-grossing movies. So, perhaps there’s hope for A Christmas Story‘s decades-spanning tale to resume one day, but for now, the 1983 hit cannot be topped.

A Christmas Story and A Christmas Story Christmas are currently available to stream on Max.