Summary

• The Nightmare Before Christmas 2 has been highly demanded by fans but has yet to be made due to Tim Burton's reluctance and the lack of a great sequel idea.
• Tim Burton has expressed no interest in participating in a sequel to The Nightmare Before Christmas.
• While the original cast members could return for the sequel, including Chris Sarandon and Catherine O'Hara, no official casting has been confirmed as the movie has not been greenlit yet.

The Nightmare Before Christmas 2 has often been teased over the years, but despite a The Nightmare Before Christmas sequel being one of the most demanded of all Disney’s properties it still has yet to materialize. The 1993 stop-motion animated musical The Nightmare Before Christmas, directed by Henry Selick from a story by Tim Burton himself follows Jack Skellington, the bored and disillusioned King of Halloween Town. One day, Jack stumbles through a portal to Christmas Town and becomes fascinated by everything Christmas. He decides to bring this holiday to Halloween Town, but that’s a lot easier said than done.

Accompanying Jack through this adventure is his ghost dog Zero and Sally, a rag doll who serves as Jack’s love interest. The Nightmare Before Christmas was a critical and commercial success and has built a cult following over the years. While a sequel has been discussed multiple times in the 30 years since the 1993 release, and a book that follows up the story was released, The Nightmare Before Christmas 2 release date hasn’t come. A Nightmare Before Christmas sequel still gets floated by the cast and creative team of the original every so often though, meaning there’s much to discuss when it comes to Jack Skellington’s next adventure.

Most Recent Nightmare Before Christmas 2 News

Tim Burton's latest comments on The Nightmare Before Christmas 2 seem to doom the sequel before it is even made, and it is unlikely that the celebrated filmmaker would be on board. Burton was rather candid with his thoughts when he said "It’s nice that people are maybe interested, but I’m not". Burton went on to explain how protective he was of the original film, and that is understandable considering how intricately linked it is with his creative style. Though Burton's dismissal of the sequel doesn't entirely eliminate its chances, it certainly doesn't bode well.

Nightmare Before Christmas 2 Isn’t Confirmed

The Nightmare Before Christmas 2 isn’t confirmed, though there have been many teases and near-starts for the sequel over the decades. Back in 2001, Disney was reportedly considering making a sequel using CGI rather than stop-motion, but Burton intervened. Still, rumors continued as director Henry Selick said in 2009 that he would do it if he and Burton came up with a good story. In 2019, it was reported that Disney was considering a stop-motion sequel or live-action remake, but none of these plans came to fruition.

Nightmare Before Christmas 2 Cast

The cast of The Nightmare Before Christmas 2 could include a few returning cast members from The Nightmare Before Christmas, though nothing is certain. Chris Sarandon (Child’s Play, The Princess Bride) has spoken in interviews and indicated he’d be more than happy to reprise his role as Jack Skellington.

Chris Sarandon voiced Jack Skellington's dialogue, while Danny Elfman performed Jack's songs.

Catherine O’Hara (Home Alone, Beetlejuice) could also be back as Sally, since her performance in the original helped elevate the character to become as much of a cultural icon as the Pumpkin King himself. Until the movie is confirmed, however, it’s impossible to predict who from The Nightmare Before Christmas cast could return for the sequel.

Possible Nightmare Before Christmas 2 Story

The plot of The Nightmare Before Christmas 2 is one of the key reasons the sequel has yet to materialize, as The Nightmare Before Christmas wraps up its narrative pretty definitively. However, although it’s a complete and satisfying end, viewers were left wondering what else the universe of The Nightmare Before Christmas has to offer. This is one of the key reasons The Nightmare Before Christmas 2 has been so in demand, as the world created by Tim Burton feels far too deep and unique to be contained in a single movie.

There have been a few follow-ups to The Nightmare Before Christmas in other mediums. The 2022 novel Long Live The Pumpkin Queen by author Shea Ernshaw is an official followup from Disney and could be adapted into The Nightmare Before Christmas 2. In the novel, Sally is crowned the Pumpkin Queen and she discovers an ancient realm called Dream Town, but also struggles with her role as co-ruler of Halloween Town.

There was also a pseudo-sequel to Nightmare Before Christmas made in the 2004 video game The Nightmare Before Christmas: Oogie's Revenge. The game's story is set a year after the movie and sees a bored Jack trying desperately to spice up Halloween again, albeit this time having learned his lesson when it comes to invading other holiday realms. It’s much less likely that The Nightmare Before Christmas 2 will include elements from Oogie’s Revenge, though both it and Long Live The Pumpkin Queen show there’s plenty of mileage for a sequel from a narrative perspective.

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  The Nightmare Before Christmas

  Release Date:

  1993-10-29

  Budget:

  $24 Million

  Cast:

  Catherine O'Hara, Glenn Shadix, Ken Page, William Hickey, Chris Sarandon, Paul Reubens, Danny Elfman

  Director:

  Henry Selick

  Genres:

  Animation, Fantasy, Holiday

  Rating:

  PG

  Runtime:

  76 minutes

  Writers:

  Caroline Thompson

  Studio(s):

  Touchstone Pictures, Skellington Productions

  Distributor(s):

  Buena Vista Distribution, Walt Disney Pictures

  Creator :

  Michael McDowell, Tim Burton

  Franchise(s):

  Disney