Tommy Wirkola is returning to helm the sleigh for Violent Night 2, the sequel to his 2022 killer-Santa action movie starring David Harbour.

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.

Kelly McCormick and David Leitch of 87North are back as producers, as are screenwriters Pat Casey and Josh Miller.

In 2022, the filmmaker 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,” 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.” Screenwriter Miller also expressed that the sequel would have “western influence” and that Miracle on 34th Street would be an inspiration for the film.

Universal Pictures has dated the sequel to release on December 4th, 2026. Production is due to begin in September of this year.