Santa’s naughty list is getting a little longer in the first trailer for Violent Night 2, which bowed at CinemaCon Wednesday during the Universal presentation. David Harbour stars as a vengeful Santa Claus in the sequel to the 2022 original, with Kristen Bell joining the franchise as Mrs. Claus.
The footage began with Harbour’s Santa, who has been kicked out of his gig at the North Pole and finds himself wandering around a mall at the holidays. He stumbles upon the mall Santa setup and sees kids writing their wish lists as he confides in them that “maybe I killed too many people.” Harbour goes on to become the mall Santa himself, when it’s revealed that his elves are out to kill him via a mission from Jared Harris’ villain.
As he fights off attacks within the mall, Harbour promises “I have reinforcements coming” — which sets up the arrival of Bell, who declares, “Get your own man, he’s taken” as she swings in to save him. And don’t expect the usually dowdy Mrs. Claus; she’s rocking a trendy red fit with white trim, accompanied by some serious weapons skills.
Tommy Wirkola once again directs Violent Night 2, with producers Kelly McCormick and David Leitch of 87North back, along with screenwriters team Pat Casey and Josh Miller.
Newcomers to the cast include Daniela Melchior and Joe Pantoliano.
In 2022, Wirkola told The Hollywood Reporter he had thoughts of elements for a sequel that didn’t fit into the original. “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.”
The film has a release date of Dec. 4.
