Last year Netflix gave us an instant contender for the all-time-great movie Santas in The Christmas Chronicles – a Chris Columbus-produced festive adventure movie that cast none other than Kurt Russell as the man with the, er, bulging sack. It was evidently a hit, because the streaming service has just announced a sequel – The Christmas Chronicles 2 – coming in 2020. Not only will it see Russell return as Santa Claus, but after a brief appearance in the first film we'll see more of Russell's real-life wife Goldie Hawn as Mrs. Claus.
That’s not all – Columbus is going to direct this one himself, after handing the reins on the original to Clay Katis, with Ricky Baker himself, Julian Dennison, also joining the cast. He’ll play ‘the Belsnickel’ – which, according to a quick Google search, is “a crotchety, fur-clad Christmas gift-bringer figure”. In short, he’s a creepy piece of European folklore that’s only slightly lower on the scary-scale than Krampus. Fans of The Office (US) might remember an episode in the final season where Dwight Schrute dresses up as Belsnickle.
Anyway, the important thing is here is that more of Kurt Russell’s Santa – pick up this month’s Empire to see where he officially ranks in the best filmic Father Christmases – is on the way. Catch the next instalment of The Christmas Chronicles in late 2020.