Santa Is On The Naughty List & Mrs. Claus Is A
Santa Is On The Naughty List & Mrs. Claus Is A "Bada--" As Violent Night 2 Team Break Down Action-Packed Trailer
David Harbour's Santa Claus is back, but he's not nice, in the official Violent Night 2 trailer.
The long-awaited sequel to the hit Christmas action comedy picks up sometime after the events of its predecessor, as Harbour's Santa finds himself on the naughty list for his more punitive approach to those on the naughty list, and stripped of his powers, leaving him in a challenging fight for survival from within a mall against a small town mobster. Joining Harbour in the Violent Night 2 cast are The Suicide Squad's Daniela Melchior, Foundation's Jared Harris, The Babysitter's Andrew Bachelor and Kristen Bell as Mrs. Claus, among others.
Ahead of the film's December 4 release, Universal Pictures has released the official Violent Night 2 trailer. The footage sees Harbour's Santa having to adjust to his life without powers now that he's on the naughty list, and needing to rediscover the meaning of Christmas, all of which is challenged by Harris' aforementioned villain, who traps him in a local mall. Santa, however, won't find himself alone, as he'll have the help of a variety of mall employees and Bell's Mrs. Claus to face down the various threats thrown their way. Check out the action-packed trailer below:
In honor of its release, ScreenRant's Grant Hermanns interviewed director Tommy Wirkola and producer Kelly McCormick to discuss the Violent Night 2 trailer. The pair broke down the biggest reveals from the film's first footage, namely the evolution of its action and Bell's casting, while also discussing the long wait for the sequel's release, how the mall setting changes things, and potential future plans for the Christmas action franchise.
Santa's Search For The Meaning Of Christmas Will Reveal More Of His Backstory
ScreenRant: Much like the first film, I like that Santa has to remind himself the meaning of Christmas, but at the same time does so in a very different manner this time around. I'd love to target that, in particular, because obviously the trailer really points to it being the events of the first movie that maybe landed him on the naughty list. But can you give a tease of whether or not there are other events in the time between the two films that maybe have led him to that list?
Tommy Wirkola: No, no, you're right. You're right on point, and kind of the whole idea is that he basically took the wrong lessons from the first one. Basically, Santa has gotten this notion that he should just be punishing the naughty, so he's gone in full-tilt on that since the events of the first one, and eventually it just catches up to him. He's forgotten about what Christmas is and was to him, and to everybody, and he's just become this avenger of naughty people, and that ends up putting him on the naughty list. So yeah, he's stripped of his powers. He's not Santa Claus anymore, and he's trapped in this small mall where Jared Harris' character is kind of this evil ruler, and ends up being entangled into that story, and the characters inside the mall. But yeah, he's basically taken the very wrong lessons from what transpired in Violent Night 1.
ScreenRant: And that feels like a perfect way to really start tackling more of his backstory that we got from the first film, where obviously, before he was Santa, he was this very violent barbarian warrior. How much more of that lore and that backstory are you, Josh, and Pat really getting to showcase this time around compared to the first film?
Tommy Wirkola: Well, without going into too much into too many spoilers. It's funny because, in the script of the first one, we had more stuff in it, and 1) because of budget, we had to cut it. But 2) we felt like we had a story that we should focus on for the first one. We should just give a little hint and flavor of what he was. So, in reality, it's only him talking a little bit about it, and then we see one shot of him standing surrounded by dead bodies as a Viking. And since then, when the movie came out, and every Christmas since, in the tweets and also in the feedback, and David, when he goes to Comic Cons and talks to fans, he says, "The one thing people always wanted to know more was the Viking past and the myth behind how he became Santa Claus, and Mrs. Claus and all that stuff." So yeah, we did feel like we had to go into that a little bit in this one without overindulging. So, we do get to see him in action back in the day, and there's just a little bit of a story of how he became Santa Claus, and how he — it's hard to talk, I'm trying to maneuver without spoiling anything. [Chuckles] But yeah, we do go into his past, and obviously you know Mrs. Claus is there, and she's tied into it all, and we wanted to give the audience some more of that without going overboard with it.
Casting Kristen Bell As Mrs. Claus Was "A Christmas Miracle" After The Team "Were Really Avoiding It" For The Longest Time
ScreenRant: Well, since you mentioned Mrs. Claus, obviously, we've got to talk about getting Kristen Bell on board for Violent Night 2's cast. She is a very busy creative, as well. So, I'd love to hear not only what it was like landing on her to be the perfect person to play this version of Mrs. Claus, but also how big of a role she has in this one, given that she's obviously very busy on multiple projects in addition to this.
Tommy Wirkola: Yeah, it's one of those things where it was the same when David came on board as Santa Claus in the first one. The moment Kristen's name came up, it was just looks being shared, like, "Oh yes, this is perfect if we can get her." And luckily, we got her. It was a Christmas miracle. But yeah, she was great, and obviously she brings so much humor and heart, and she also has a great physicality in the role. She's very involved in the action in the movie. And again, she's Mrs. Claus. The character of Mrs. Claus is also into Santa's backstory, and how it all started. So, she obviously plays a big role in all that. She was just a joy to work with, and getting to know her and talk to her on set, it turns out she's a big genre fan, and she watches a lot of these movies and has a big love for them. So yeah, I think she got a kick out of being a part of it too.
ScreenRant: Another big change coming into this one is, of course, Kristen Bell as Mrs. Claus. Just seeing the trailer, seeing her in action, has me so excited to see more of her in that character. Talking with Tommy, he mentioned that we're going to get to see some backstory as well with her and Santa in this film, but I'd love to hear about the search for Kristen. Because I also know David Harbour mentioned wanting Charlize Theron at one point in the past. So, what was that casting search like?
Kelly McCormick: It wasn't a search at all. Basically, we were gonna put her in the first movie as a post-credit [tease], and then we all decided not to, and it would have been so different if we would have. And then we sat there, and I really love casting, it's one of my favorite things. We got into the casting, and we worked really hard to figure it out, because it's quite an ensemble this time, and a great ensemble, I'll say. And then it was like, "Oh right, we haven't cast Mrs. Claus." We were all sort of avoiding it because it's just too hard! There's too much pressure, and it's just too difficult. [Laughs] So many great options, so many eyes on who this character is going to be played by, and we were really avoiding it, I'm not gonna lie, and overthinking it too. So, she kind of came up — really, I think it was divine intervention — really late in the process. But it was David Harbour who was like, "I know her really well, would the studio go for her?" And we checked on that, and they were like, "Oh my God, are you kidding? She'll never do it!" And I was like, "She'll never do it." [Laughs] And then he just started having conversations, and for whatever reason, she's a huge fan of the first one, and she just started leaning in. When she showed up on set, even I was like, "I can't believe you're here. This is so incredible." Honestly, I don't know who I would have cast instead. It was literally divine intervention. She just sort of showed up, and we're so lucky to have her. It's like a Christmas present for Violent Night 2. [Chuckles] She's this very powerful force of a human being in real life, and she's so thoughtful and emotional and sensitive and kind and good, and then a bada--. She's all those things in this movie as Mrs. Claus, too.
Wirkola & McCormick Stuck Through Violent Night 2's Development For A Touching Reason
ScreenRant: So, Violent Night 2, I've seen the trailer. I'm so excited. I've been so eager to finally see this one come together. I'd love to hear from your perspective, though, obviously, sequels are a hard thing to get off the ground, and sometimes things just kind of quietly die on the vine as focus shifts elsewhere. What was it about this story or this character that you, both Davids and Tommy really stayed so dedicated to really bringing back over these three or four years?
Kelly McCormick: Yeah, when we did Violent Night 1, we set out to make a Christmas classic, an 87North version of a Christmas classic. [Chuckles] I was really shocked to find out that we had. It did great at the box office, but it's on hit lists for [best] Christmas movies the last two years. And I think that that made Universal really realize that it was one that was sticking around, that it was one that hit home in a way that people started to put it into their traditions. And that warmed my heart, like a nice, you know, stab in the shoulder. [Chuckles] I just think it's so cool. And then the other thing that really connected was David Harbour, who really attends to his fans, he has conversations, he goes to Comic Cons, he is communicative with his fans, and he is asked a lot about Violet Night, a lot about the backstory of his Santa. A lot about, like, "What other journeys do you want to take him on?" And he was one of the ones that kept the home fires burning. "This character, of all the characters I've ever created, is one that people remain really, really excited about. What are we gonna do?" That was really cool, too, because without him, we don't have a movie. He is absolutely the heart and soul of the film.
ScreenRant: I can't believe it's already been four or five years since the first movie came out, which I still have it, proudly, physically. To start with, sticking with any movie sequel for multiple years can be tricky for any director. What was it like really watching the way this evolved behind the scenes with Pat and Josh writing it, and the producers and yourself trying to really get it off the ground?
Tommy Wirkola: Yeah, it's a tricky thing doing a sequel. I've only done it really, as a director, once myself with Dead Snow 2, and it took us a while to crack the idea. We had a few different approaches that we weren't feeling 100% [about], and then Pat and Josh had this idea — that you saw a glimpse of in the trailer — of Santa getting on the naughty list, getting stuck in this mall, and felt like it was kind of the right approach in regards to where we could bring the character, and how we can expand on the world and the myth. But yeah, it's tricky because you don't want to end up in the trap that some sequels do, which is just repeating the formula in a slightly different setting. So it's tricky, and hopefully we found a way that feels new and fresh.
Violent Night 2 Evolves The Santa-Focused Action In A Few Key Ways
ScreenRant: So coming into the sequel, I'd love to hear what it was like working with him, working with Pat and Josh, and working with Tommy to really support their vision, from a producer standpoint, of going bigger, but also not going so big that you're going broke on this one.
Kelly McCormick: That was definitely the challenge about this one. "How do you make it bigger? How do you make it different? And how do you make it on a budget?" And that's what's great about that team. Everybody you mentioned, like, Pat and Josh have had this idea since they were in high school. They used to make video sketches about it in video class, like this crazy Santa Claus. It just warms my heart that these teenagers were doing that back in the day. So they have a trillion ideas as to where and what Santa can be doing at any given time, and we landed on the mall really early in the process. I think it's just the perfect progression because, not only is it more holiday decor to sort of create chaos with, but it's also a place where you'll have more interactions, so everything automatically becomes bigger and becomes more connective. And it's one of the places that you absolutely go when Christmastime is upon us. We got to also play into the whole theme of consumerism, and how that's affected what Christmas means, and I think that's one of the things we talk about a lot in the movie, is what does Christmas mean to you? Because it means a lot of different things depending on your family traditions and where your heart lies. So, in a really kind of sweet way, it got a little cute, sweeter, a little more emotional, but it also got way more action-y, way more violent.
ScreenRant: So, talking about the action, I'd love to hear what it was like finding a new evolution. Obviously, like you said, you didn't want to just repeat the first movie, and some of the action that we see in this trailer feels a little more slapstick humorous compared to that first film. What was it like finding a new angle for the action?
Tommy Wirkola: It's just one of the challenges that we were facing when we dug into it all. But being an action movie, obviously that's a key element of everything, so we had to find new ways. The fact that we got it to tie into Santa's journey, and because he has taken the wrong lessons. He's become this punisher of naughty, so when he's stripped of his powers, 1) he doesn't have his magic anymore, but 2) he's also trying to not be too violent anymore. So that ties into the action, and how that whole thing progresses, but yeah, there are some scenes where there's more humor, but there are also some scenes and big fights that are not in the trailer. We really show new sides of him that I don't think we saw in the first one, and also, the fight choreographer on this one is very into ancient fighting styles, so we really also went into Viking training, and how we could really infuse that into Santa's fighting style. So yeah, we try to do a lot of new stuff within the action, which is obviously hard these days because of all the action movies out there. But yeah, dude, we had a blast with a few of those fights, and I can't wait for people to see them.
There Are "A Lot Of Places To Take Santa" In A Potential Violent Night 3
ScreenRant: When a franchise does launch, there might be early talks in a production about what the future might hold. Have you and the team had any early talks about possibly making a Violent Night 3?
Kelly McCormick: I'm a little superstitious, so we try not to talk about it. But I will say, back to Pat and Josh, and their sketches from high school, there are a lot of places to take Santa. So, if people respond, we've got a lot of ideas to keep him on a journey, and very different ways to continue the story of our Santa.
Violent Night 2 hits theaters on December 4!