Violent Night's David Harbour Offers Update on Sequel

One of the unexpected genre hits of 2022 was Violent Night, which reimagined Santa Claus as a figure capable of both bringing joy to children and punishment to those who wronged him. A sequel was confirmed earlier this year, and while the writers' and actors' strikes are putting a pause on all projects that were previously confirmed to be in development, star David Harbour hinted that development on the follow-up was going well. He avoided confirming exactly how far into development the project got, but teased that, once the strikes are resolved, things will be able to move forward more substantially. 

Speaking to Collider about the development of the sequel, Harbour revealed, "Before the writers' strike there was, you know, maybe something that came in. We'll have to see where it fits if they can resolve all these labor issues. If the studios would please go to the table and end these labor issues, we could shoot all kinds of things I'd love to give to the people! But yes, we're in process."

Given the unexpected blend of the holly-jolly Kris Kringle mixed with brutality and bloodshed, it was a precise balance that the filmmakers had to discover that honored staples of the holiday while also reimagining things from a new perspective. Director Tommy Wirkola shared earlier this year how he and his collaborators would be approaching the next entry.

"We have time to really crack the script and figure out the story," the filmmaker revealed to TheWrap. "And we have some ideas, me and [writers] Pat [Casey] and Josh [Miller] and the producers, we've been talking about where we want to take it and what we want to see."

He continued, "There's stuff we left on the floor like the North Pole, Mrs. Claus, the elves ... But story-wise I think we have a really, really cool idea that expands on the world and scope, but still keeping that tone that we love from the first one."

The original film is described, "To hell with 'all is calm.' From 87North, the bare-knuckle producers of Nobody, John Wick, Atomic Blonde, Deadpool 2, Bullet Train, and Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw comes a holiday action-comedy that says you should always bet on red.

"When a team of mercenaries breaks into a wealthy family compound on Christmas Eve, taking everyone inside hostage, the team isn't prepared for a surprise combatant: Santa Claus (David Harbour, Black Widow, Stranger Things series) is on the grounds, and he's about to show why this Nick is no saint.

Stay tuned for updates on the Violent Night sequel.

Are you looking forward to the next movie? Let us know in the comments or contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter to talk all things Star Wars and horror!