Summary
- Actor Chris Sarandon, who provided the voice of Jack Skellington in The Nightmare Before Christmas, shut down rumors of a sequel, stating that he has no involvement and can't initiate the project.
- Despite fan demand and ongoing merchandise sales, it appears unlikely that a sequel to The Nightmare Before Christmas is in the works, with no official word from Disney since the last rumors in 2019.
- A novel sequel called Long Live the Pumpkin Queen has been released, which could potentially be adapted into a film or bridge the gap between the original movie and a future sequel, although there are no official plans or comments from Disney.
The Nightmare Before Christmas sequel rumors have been addressed by the actor who provided the speaking voice for the lead character Jack Skellington. In the 1993 movie, Jack, also known as the Pumpkin King of Halloween Town, discovers the joys of Christmas and sets out to bring the holiday home with him by orchestrating the kidnapping of Santa Claus. Despite being an iconic property that is frequently rewatched both in the Halloween and Christmas seasons, the stop-motion animated film never had a sequel materialize. However, that hasn't stopped rumors from periodically swirling about a possible Nightmare Before Christmas 2 throughout the intervening decades.
While The Nightmare Before Christmas isn't directed by Tim Burton but by Henry Selick, the story was from the mind of Burton and the aesthetic very much leans into the gothic nature of Burton's filmography. With Burton returning to his old cult classic movies by making Beetlejuice 2 over three decades after the original's release, the same thing could potentially happen with The Nightmare Before Christmas 2. Unfortunately, the idea of The Nightmare Before Christmas 2 has been addressed by the voice actor who plays the face of the franchise, and his comments aren't optimistic.
Will A Nightmare Before Christmas Sequel Even Happen?
On an episode of the podcast The Art of Kindness with Robert Peterpaul, Peterpaul sat down with Jack Skellington actor Chris Sarandon. During the conversation, they discussed the rumors that a sequel was in the works, which Sarandon shut down with as much authority as he could summon. However, Sarandon also acknowledged that wouldn't be directly involved if the project was being developed. Read his full quote below:
Essentially I have nothing to do with it. I can’t pick up the phone and call Tim Burton and say, "OK let’s go! Let’s do Nightmare Before Christmas 2!" I’m the hired gun in this equation. And whether it would be me in a sequel or not… I don’t know. At the same time I respect Tim’s thoughts. I mean this happened with The Princess Bride where there was a great demand for a sequel… I don’t know how Tim feels. I’ve heard various things, but they could be true or not.
Despite fans' demands and the fact that Nightmare Before Christmas merchandise emblazoned with the face of Jack Skellington is sold in many stores to this day, it still seems unlikely that a sequel is in the cards any time soon. The latest rumors that a Nightmare Before Christmas 2 was in development came in 2019, but they were unclear whether Disney was working on a stop-motion sequel or a live-action remake. Aside from those reported claims, no word has come from the Disney camp since then.
There have also been many attempts to make sequels to the story in various non-film media, to varying degrees of success. Jack Skellington and the other Nightmare characters have made appearances in various video games including the 2002 Disney and Final Fantasy crossover game Kingdom Hearts and 2004's The Nightmare Before Christmas: Oogie's Revenge. There are also other movies cut from the same cloth as The Nightmare Before Christmas, such as Corpse Bride and Frankenweenie. Unfortunately, there hasn't been any official news on a proper Nightmare Before Christmas 2.
However, if there were to be a sequel to The Nightmare Before Christmas, there might not be a better time to mount one than now. Both producer Tim Burton and director Henry Selick have experienced career comebacks on Netflix in the last few months. Selick directed the stop-motion film Wendell & Wild (his first feature since 2009's Coraline) and Burton with the popular Addams Family spinoff series Wednesday. With both creators back in the game, it might seem only natural to pair them together once more if they're willing to return to the franchise.
There Is A Nightmare Before Christmas Sequel Novel That Could Become A Movie
In 2022, Disney released a novel sequel to the original The Nightmare Before Christmas called Long Live the Pumpkin Queen. The novel is different from the movie in that the story is told from the perspective of Jack's love interest, Sally. The novel is set 50 weeks after The Nightmare Before Christmas when Jack and Sally return after their honeymoon. Sally struggles with her new life as a queen, gets trapped in the forgotten world of Dream Town, and everything she knows and loves comes under threat. The novel continues the witty and gothic aesthetic of the movie, and Sally is just as interesting of a lead character as Jack.
This novel could potentially be adapted into a film, or it could be a way to fill the gap between the original film and whatever might entail in the sequel. There are no official plans to adapt the story and there haven't been any comments from Disney about the book's possibility to lead to more Nightmare Before Christmas content, but the potential is clearly there. It's also important to note that Burton had no involvement in the development of Long Live the Pumpkin Queen either. Nevertheless, as of right now, no plans for a The Night Before Christmas sequel have been confirmed.