2020’s Christmas cheer got a bit of help from Netflix with the release of The Christmas Chronicles 2. Starring Kurt Russell as Santa Claus, and Goldie Hawn as Mrs. Claus, the movie also featured an evil elf from Santa’s village who turns into a human, played by Deadpool 2 star Julian Dennison. In an interview with CinemaBlend, Dennison revealed that the scene showing his transformation from elf to man almost ended up being NSFW.
“I remember transforming into a human … the barn scene. We were in the stable, and I’m next to the sleigh, I remember this whole bit, transforming in the shadows, running off. I remember in an earlier draft, I was supposed to be butt naked. I was supposed to be naked, and they were going to get me to run through the [forest.] Like, you could tell I’m naked, but not really, because I’d be running through the forest and shadows. I think they remembered that it was The Christmas Chronicles, it’s for all ages, but mainly kids will watch it. So they couldn’t get me fully naked, running through the forest.”
In The Christmas Chronicles 2, the elf played by Julian Dennison, named Belsnickel, used to be one of Santa’s favorites. After Santa started devoting more and more time to making presents for the children of the world, Belsnickel grew jealous. Unable to hide his jealousy, Belsnickel ended up getting cursed into a human form and thereafter plotted to take down Santa’s whole operation.
The movie added many new parts to Santa’s mythology, including giving the character of Saint Nick a proper backstory. Clearly, Netflix is hoping to set up an entire franchise for the series. In a past interview, the movie’s director, Chris Columbus, had affirmed that while there are no immediate plans for a third Christmas Chronicles movie, the seeds have already been laid for a fresh outing.
“There’s a poignant moment in the movie where they’re watching the kids making snow angels, and Mrs. Claus says, ‘It’s so nice to have real children in the village again. But you’re like, ‘We never explain why she feels that way. There’s some sort of hidden, slightly dark, melancholy thing in their past that we don’t know about.’ And I love the fact that we don’t deal with it in this movie. It’s in some of the notes that Kurt wrote. We know what it is. Maybe it connects if we’re lucky enough to do a third. I don’t know [if there will be a third film]. But it’s interesting because right now I can’t even think about what the third potential movie could be. But we’re certainly set up to open up this world even more.”
Directed and produced by Chris Columbus, who made Home Alone, and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, The Christmas Chronicles 2 stars Kurt Russell, Goldie Hawn, Darby Camp, Kimberly Williams-Paisley, Jahzir Bruno, Julian Dennison, Tyrese Gibson, Judah Lewis, Sunny Suljic, Darlene Love, and Malcolm McDowell. The film can currently be streamed on Netflix. This news comes from CinemaBlend.