If you ask people what movies they watch each Christmas season, chances are many of them will include A Christmas Story on the list. The movie was met with a decent amount of positive critical reception when it came out in 1983, but it’s been cemented as a Christmas classic in the decades since, and you won’t have any problem finding marathons of it on cable during that period of the year. Well, today brings word that not only is a new Christmas Story sequel on the way, the star of the original movie is coming back too.
Warner Bros. and Legendary are teaming together on A Christmas Story Christmas, and Peter Billingsley is on deck to reprise Ralphie Parker. Clay Katis, who directed 2018’s The Christmas Chronicles, will direct the sequel, and Gran Torino’s Nick Schenk wrote the script. In addition to his acting duties, Billingsley will also produce alongside Vince Vaughn through their Wild West Picture Show Productions banner. Cameras begin rolling next month in Hungary.
As for the plot, according to THR, A Christmas Story Christmas will be set in the 1970s, approximately three decades after the first movie, and follow the adult Ralphie returning to his childhood home on Cleveland street to “deliver his kids a magical Christmas like the one he had growing up.” Warner Bros. is aiming “recreate the same real-life tone of the first movie” by showing Ralphie reconnect with his old friends and reconcile the passing of his father (a.k.a. The Old Man). Oh, and of course there will be plenty of Christmas Story callbacks.
Although this marks Peter Billingsley’s first time playing Ralphie since his first outing as a child, it’s not the first Christmas Story sequel to be made. First off, the PBS series American Playhouse made two TV film follow-ups called The Star-Crossed Romance of Josephine Cosnowski and Ollie Hopnoodle's Haven of Bliss, the latter of which had Jerry O’Connell playing young Ralphie. Then there was 1994’s My Summer Story, which featured Kieran Culkin as Ralphie and also starred Charles Grodin and Mary Steenburgen. Finally, A Christmas Story 2 (which ignored what happened in My Summer Story) was released straight to video in 2012, and starred Braeden Lemasters as Ralphie.
A Christmas Story 2 was billed as the “official sequel” to A Christmas Story in the trailer, but it’s fair to say that title can now be bestowed upon A Christmas Story Christmas given Peter Billingsley’s involvement. As an adult, Billingsley has largely focused on writing and producing various movies and TV shows, but you might recognize him on camera as Ming Ming in Elf and William Ginter Riva in Iron Man and Spider-Man: Far From Home.
Only time will tell how A Christmas Story Christmas measures up to its predecessor, but as soon as more significant details come in about the sequel, we’ll let you know. For now, catch up to speed on the movies expected to come out this year by reading through our 2022 release schedule.
