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If you were to rattle off a Top Five list of all-time favorite Christmas-themed movies, director Bob Clark’s 1983 masterpiece A Christmas Story would certainly make it on there, hobnobbing with the likes of It’s a Wonderful Life and the original Miracle on 34th Street.
A Christmas Story was based off of author Jean Shepherd’s In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash, and came gift came wrapped in the finest tinsel and holly, festooned with a love for all things that make the Christmas season so magical. The story was simple, yet effective: A young boy named Ralphie growing up in Hohman, Indiana in 1940 longs for nothing more than an official Red Ryder Carbine Action 200-shot Range Model air rifle and he’s pulling out all of the stops to ensure he gets his beloved treasure from Jolly Old Saint Nick, including and up to drinking gallons of Ovaltine. A disappointment at the box-office upon release, this little gem has gone on to become a family-watching tradition every December and has crossed generations as an official evergreen of holiday cinema.
Announced by our White Christmas fans over at Variety today comes the news that A Christmas Story – nearly forty years after its release – is finally set for an honest-to-Pete sequel, with original star Peter Billingsley set to return to the role of Ralphie.
Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures are backing this production, and lead actor Billingsley will also serve as a producer alongside partner Vince Vaughn (yes, that Vince Vaughn) for their production house Wild West Pictures. Clay Kaytis of The Christmas Chronicles fame will be directing A Christmas Story Christmas based off of a script from Cry Macho scribe Nick Schenk.
Details are so far pretty sparse on the particulars of the new film, but what we do know sounds intriguing: A Christmas Story Christmas will take place in the 1970s, with a now older Ralphie taking his own family to visit his childhood home for the holidays. As for other returning original cast members, no word as of yet, but it would be a missed opportunity if the lovely Melinda Dillon (Close Encounters of the Third Kind) didn’t return as Mother Parker. Sadly, character actor par excellence Darren McGavin (Kolchak: The Night Stalker) who played The Old Man passed away in 2006, but we’re sure he’ll be along for the ride in spirit.
Though this is not the first attempt by the movies to stage a follow-up to A Christmas Story – in 1994 an entirely new cast (along with returning original director Bob Clark) essayed the roles of the Parker family in My Summer Story and in 2015 a movie entitled A Christmas Story 2 attempted to move the action into the 1950s, again with none of the original cast returning – this is the first production to bring back Peter Billingsley. No word for any continuity buffs that might be wondering if these prior two efforts will be considered canon to the new film.
Excited about the prospect of a sequel to the beloved A Christmas Story, Dear and Constant Reader? It’s always a tricky prospect making a sequel, especially one that means so very much to so many people. We’re excited for this one and we promise to keep you up to date on any and all details!
A Christmas Story Christmas begins filming in Hungary next month.
