Peter Billingsley is returning as Ralphie Parker for a sequel to the 1983 holiday classic A Christmas Story.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Legendary and Warner Bros. have closed a deal for Billingsley to star in and produce a sequel to A Christmas Story, titled A Christmas Story Christmas. The sequel is directed by Clay Kaytis (The Christmas Chronicles) from a screenplay by Nick Schenk (Gran Torino, The Mule). Billingsley is producing with Vince Vaughn through their production company, Wild West Picture Show Productions. Production on the film is slated to begin in Hungary this February.
Directed by Bob Clark, the original A Christmas Story first hit cinemas on Nov. 18, 1983. The film is based upon elements from Jean Shepherd's 1966 book In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash, as well as his 1971 book Wanda Hickey's Night of Golden Memories and Other Disasters. Set in the year 1940, the A Christmas Story centers on the nine-year-old Ralphie, who desperately wants a Red Ryder BB Gun for Christmas. Since its initial release, the film has become a holiday season staple in North America.
According to THR, Kaytis' A Christmas Story Christmas takes place in the 1970s and follows a grown-up Ralphie, who returns to his old house on Cleveland Street in order to give his own children "a magical Christmas like the one he had growing up." The outlet further explains that "[t]he studio is hoping to recreate the same real-life tone of the first movie to show the now-father reconnect with childhood friends, reconcile the passing of his Old Man, and callbacks to the initial film."
A sequel to 1983's A Christmas Story would not be unprecedented. In 1994, Clark returned to helm It Runs in the Family, which takes place in the summer of 1941, several months after the events of A Christmas Story. However, the 1994 sequel features almost an entirely different cast, with Ralphie instead being played by Kieran Culkin (Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, Succession). It Runs in the Family only received a limited theatrical release before being retitled My Summer Story for its home video and television release. Additionally, 2012 saw the release of director Brian Levant's A Christmas Story 2. The film stars actor/musician Braeden Lemasters as Ralphie and ignores the events of My Summer Story.
A Christmas Story Christmas does not have a release date.
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