A busy year for director Tommy Wirkola, who already gave us the Netflix shark thriller Thrash, wraps up with a dose of Christmas violence. Back in 2022, Wirkola directed Violent Night, in which David Harbour plays Santa Claus who goes on a bloody rampage to save a kidnapped family from a bunch of goons on his “Naughty” list. The film was a solid $76M success, and now Santa is gearing up for more action in Violent Night 2.
Kristen Bell joins Harbour in Violent Night 2, playing, who else, Mrs. Claus! The sequel finds good ol’ Saint Nick forgetting the true meaning of Christmas and sapped of his powers while trying to defend mall patrons from armed thugs led by Jared Harris. Good thing he’s got a loyal, heavily armed wife to help out when he’s in a pickle.
One thing the trailer makes clear is that Santa doesn’t have a say in who is on the Naughty list, because when he ends up on it himself, his powers disappear. I dig the way they are expanding the Christmas lore with each movie.
Pat Casey and Josh Miller return as co-writers, with Wirkola once again behind the camera. Also in the cast are Joe Pantoliano, Maxwell Friedman, Daniela Melchior, and Andrew Bachelor.
Violent Night 2 hits theaters on December 4th.
