Violent Night 2 in the works, confirms director

Violent Night, last year’s Christmas sleeper hit, is getting a sequel. The director of part one, Tommy Wirkola, confirmed the same to a publication recently and added that shooting will not start “right away.”

For now, the team will get together to “crack the script” and decide on what Violent Night 2 will deal with, Wirkola informed. Pat Casey and Josh Miller will pen the story and script for the sequel as well.

However, whether David Harbour will return as Santa Claus is shrouded in mystery. Notably, the 2022 release emerged as a surprise blockbuster earning $76 million worldwide against a shoestring budget of $20 million.

It premiered on December 2, 2022, and was Harbour’s only release last year. Before this, he was last seen as Alexei Shostakov or the Red Guardian in Marvel’s Black Widow (2021).

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"Just making deals," Wirkola said about Violent Night 2

While talking to The Wrap about the comedy film’s upcoming home video release, Wirkola confirmed that Violent Night is indeed getting a sequel. That being said, the filmmaker noted that the team is currently only talking about making the sequel.

He also said that the team was only "making deals and getting everything in order.” The Norwegian filmmaker even said:

“We have time to really crack the script and figure out the story. And we have some ideas, me and Pat and Josh and the producers, we’ve been talking about where we want to take it and what we want to see.”

As for the possible storyline, Wirkola said that even the sequel might focus on traditional Santa mythology. This could be something like the North Pole, Mrs Claus, and the elves, as against the original film's Connecticut mansion setting.

Wirkola said that they do have a "really, really cool idea" for their story that looks at the world and scope. However, he added that they are still keeping the tone the team and fans love from the first film.

While the 43-year-old director-writer didn’t comment on who will return from the Violent Night cast in the sequel, there’s a chance that Harbour will be seen as Santa Claus again.

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The original film had a stellar crew and cast

The first part was bankrolled by 87North Productions, known for slick actioners like Nobody, John Wick, Atomic Blonde, Deadpool 2, Bullet Train, and Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw.

The action comedy has created the right amount of buzz since day one. The Violent Night trailer, which dropped in October 2022, dealt with the theme, “To hell with “all is calm.” Lasting 2:42 minutes, the clip has since garnered a stunning 39 million views.

The synopsis reads:

“When a group of mercenaries attack the estate of a wealthy family, Santa Claus must step in to save the day (and Christmas).”

Apart from David Harbour, the movie also starred:

• John Leguizamo as Scrooge
• Alex Hassell as Jason
• Alexis Louder as Linda
• Edi Patterson as Alva
• Cam Gigandet as Morgan Steel
• Leah Brady as Trudy
• Beverly D'Angelo as Gertrude
• André Eriksen as Gingerbread
• Brendan Fletcher as Krampus
• Mike Dopud as Commander Thorp
• Alexander Elliot as Bert

The Universal Pictures-backed project set base in Winnipeg, a city in the Canadian province of Manitoba, from January through March last year for its shooting schedule.

Interestingly, even Nobody, starring Bob Odenkirk, Aleksey Serebryakov, Connie Nielsen, and Christopher Lloyd, was shot in Winnipeg.

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Violent Night is currently streaming on Peacock. Its Blu-ray and DVD aka home video release is scheduled for January 24. The actioner can also be bought anywhere Blu-ray is sold.