What's this? What's this? The Nightmare Before Christmas has been a Halloween/Christmas classic since 1993. Unlike just about every other successful movie, it has yet to get itself a sequel or a live-action remake.
Until now?
Keep an eyebrow raised on this one, because it's far from official. It's more of a game of telephone. Bloody Disgusting shared a rumor from Moviehole, which heard from a source that there was talk at Disney to "do something with Nightmare Before Christmas – probably a sequel but live-action possible." This tipster is apparently someone who has given Moviehole good intel in the past.
Even if true, it sounds like "talks" are still in the early stages and haven't settled on a sequel or (wince) live-action.
On the 20th anniversary of the stop-motion animated film, Forbes posted a history of the film, which was conceived and produced by Tim Burton. The story noted that Disney was initially "both terrified and a little embarrassed by the film." Now the studio is taking proud ownership and reportedly considering a follow-up.
Honestly, it's very believable that Disney would be talking about a follow-up to The Nightmare Before Christmas. The studio must be going through every successful film in the vault at this point. They've gotten so much success from live-action (and whatever you want to call The Lion King) movies and sequels, with multiple of both formats coming later in 2019. It's a miracle The Nightmare Before Christmas has lasted this long on its own.
What would Tim Burton think of a sequel or live-action movie? He didn't direct the 1993 movie -- that was Henry Selick -- but the film is his baby, along with composer/Jack singer Danny Elfman.
Here's what Tim Burton told MTV News back in 2006, while he was revisiting the movie for a holiday release in 3-D:
I was always very protective of [Nightmare], not to do sequels or things of that kind. You know, 'Jack visits Thanksgiving world' or other kinds of things, just because I felt the movie had a purity to it and the people that like it. Because it's not a mass-market kind of thing, it was important to kind of keep that purity of it. I try to respect people and keep the purity of the project as much as possible.
That was a long time ago, so it's not clear how he feels now. Tim Burton is currently promoting one of Disney's 2019 live-action remakes as the director of Dumbo.
Since this is just a rumored project, it's something to think about and keep an eye on to see where it might go. Keep our 2019 movie schedule handy for updates on what we already know is headed to the big screen this year. And for the record, I see Nightmare Before Christmas as more of a Halloween movie than a Christmas movie. You?
