Tommy Wirkola is back in the sleigh for Violent Night 2, the sequel to its Christmas-themed action movie released in 2022, sources tell The Hollywood Reporter.
The studio on Wednesday dated the sequel for a Dec. 4, 2026 unwrapping.
David Harbour is back as the icepick-stabbing, skate-slashing Santa Claus, who in the first movie was a bitter drunk headed towards turning back on the holiday until a little girl shows him the light.
It’s unclear if his lucidity will remain intact for the second outing. Also unclear is if the new story will include Mrs. Claus, briefly mention in the first movie. Universal is eying a September start of production in Winnipeg.
Kelly McCormick and David Leitch of 87North are back as producers as are screenwriting team Pat Casey and Josh Miller.
Violent Night proved to be a solid hit, gifting the studio a $50 million domestic haul on a budget of around $20 million. It took in an additional $25.9 million from international markets.
Wirkola’s previous credits include the Norwegian horror hit Dead Snow and relationship action comedy The Trip.
In 2022, the filmmaker told The Hollywood Reporter he and the writers were already talking of a sequel that could incorporate ideas they couldn’t fit into the first movie. “We don’t see the North Pole, we don’t see Mrs. Claus and we don’t see the elves,” Wirkola said. “There were also a few ideas that we loved in the script, but we had to cut them because we couldn’t afford to shoot them.”
Wirkola is repped by CAA and Untitled Entertainment.
