Key Takeaways
- New Cast: Joe Pantoliano and Jared Harris join David Harbour in Violent Night 2.
- Director Return: Tommy Wirkola is back to direct the sequel.
- Story Expansion: The sequel aims to be bigger than the first installment.
- Potential Characters: There are discussions about introducing Mrs. Claus into the storyline.
Deadline reports that Joe Pantoliano (Bad Boys for Life) and Jared Harris (House of Dynamite) will join David Harbour in Violent Night 2. This comes just a week after it was announced that Daniela Melchior (The Suicide Squad) and Kristen Bell (Veronica Mars) would be joining the cast as well.
Unfortunately, there are no details on who Pantoliano and Harris will be playing, but they’re always a welcome addition to any cast. Tommy Wirkola has returned to direct the sequel from a screenplay by Pat Casey and Josh Miller.
In true sequel fashion, Casey and Miller teased late last year that the next installment would be bigger than the first. “The Violent Night movies are not as big budget as the Sonic movies, but we still want this one to feel bigger than the first one,” Miller said. “And you don’t want Santa just trapped in a mansion again.” Miller also teased that while the first one “lived in a Die Hard space,” the sequel will try to bring in “a little Western influence.“
Casey added, “Santa’s gonna take his shirt off even more in this one. We know what the people want. We know people are hungry for more of his Viking backstory. David is especially excited about that stuff.“
Violent Night follows a team of mercenaries who break into a wealthy family compound on Christmas Eve and take everyone inside hostage, but the team isn’t prepared for a surprise combatant: Santa Claus is on the grounds, and he’s about to show why this Nick is no saint.
As far as what the sequel will bring, it’s too early to say, but there’s been a lot of talk about Mrs. Claus needing to be brought into the action for the sequel, with Charlize Theron and Noomi Rapace being mentioned as contenders for the role. “My dream, she’ll never do it, but my dream would be Charlize Theron,” Harbour said. “I feel like she’s such a badass, I remember her in those (Atomic Blonde) fight scenes being so incredible. That would be my dream casting, but whoever plays it, if it happens, is going to be wonderful.“
