Director Tommy Wirkola returns to direct the sequel Violent Night 2, with Deadline reporting that Daniela Melchior and Kristen Bell have signed on to star. 87North and Universal will release the Christmas actioner on December 4th, 2026.

David Harbour will of course be back as the violence-inclined Santa Claus. Also returning for the sequel are Pat Casey and Josh Miller, who write the screenplay, and producers Kelly McCormick and David Leitch.

In the first film, Harbour begins his story as a bitter, drunk, stab-happy Santa Claus ready to turn his back on Christmas for good, until a little girl convinces him otherwise. Whether Violent Night 2 will pick up where we left off, or whether something will have happened to make Santa murderous again, is anyone’s guess.

In 2022, Wirkola said in an interview that he and the writers were already speaking about 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,” the director 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.” Screenwriter Miller also expressed that the sequel would have “western influence” and that Miracle on 34th Street would be an inspiration for the film.

Daniela Melchior is best known for her role as Ratcatcher in The Suicide Squad and Road House, while Kristen Bell led the acclaimed comedy series The Good Place, as well as Veronica Mars.