A sequel to A Christmas Story has been set for release on HBO Max. And what’s more, former child star Peter Billingsley is starring and producing the series, reprising his role as Ralphie from the 1983 film.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the sequel to A Christmas Story will be titled A Christmas Story Christmas and it will be directed by Clay Kaytis who also directed Netflix’s The Christmas Chronicles. The script is written by Nick Schenk who has written films for Clint Eastwood such as Grand Torino and The Mule. Peter Billingsley will produce the film with Vince Vaughn under the pair’s Wild West Picture Show Productions. The movie is being directed for Warner Bros. and Legendary.
A Christmas Story was released in 1983 and is considered a Christmas classic. Set in the 1940s, it featured Billingsley as Ralphie, a young boy eager to get a Red Ryder BB Gun for Christmas. This sequel to A Christmas Story will be set in the 1970s and it will feature an adult Ralphie returning to his childhood home with his family. Despite being set in Indiana, the original film was shot between Cleveland, Ohio, and Toronto. The new film will be shot in Hungary.
While Billingsley had several roles as a child actor, most of his work is now behind the camera as a producer. He served as executive producer for two of Vaughn’s films, The Break-Up and Four Christmases. He also executive-produced Jon Favreau’s 2008 MCU film Iron Man, and he appeared in that film as well as Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019) as William Ginter Riva.
This is not the first sequel to A Christmas Story. There was also 1994’s My Summer Story and the 2012 direct-to-video sequel A Christmas Story 2. Billingsley did not appear in either film. Production for A Christmas Story Christmas will begin in February.
This announced sequel comes just a week after Disney+ announced a sequel series to 1994’s The Santa Clause. There appears to be a trend taking place.
Are you looking forward to A Christmas Story Christmas? Are you excited to see a sequel to A Christmas Story? Are you happy that Peter Billingsley is back as an adult Ralphie? Talk to us on The Nerd Stash page on Facebook or @TheNerdStash on Twitter.