‘Thanksgiving’ Sequel in the Works With Director Eli Roth

Director Eli Roth is returning for seconds of “Thanksgiving.” He’s cooking up a sequel to his holiday-themed slasher film, with the follow-up set to open theatrically in 2025. It’s unclear which — if any — any cast members will be back.

“BEEAKING NEWS! John Carver will kill again!” the director captioned a video on Instagram, referring to the film’s villain. “Thank you everyone who supported ORIGINAL HORROR in theaters!!! Go see it now on the big screen while it’s in cinemas, sequel set for release in 2025! Taking a year to really get the script right, working on it starting today!”

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“Thanksgiving” debuted earlier in November to $10 million in North America and has grossed $30 million globally to date, which isn’t necessarily a blockbuster result. But the film cost $15 million to produce, so Sony’s TriStar Pictures, who backed the original, must feel justified in returning to terrorize the residents of Plymouth, Mass.

The idea for “Thanksgiving” stemmed from an infamous, 16-year-old fake trailer that Roth created for Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez’s double feature “Grindhouse.” The eventual full-length film, led Patrick Dempsey and TikTok star Addison Rae, centers around a mysterious, axe-wielding killer who wreaks havoc on a small town after a Black Friday riot ends in tragedy. It landed a so-so “B-” CinemaScore, which is a standard grade for the horror genre, but a surprisingly strong 83% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Roth and Jeff Rendell wrote the screenplay and served as producers along with Roger Birnbaum.

A horror mainstay, Roth is the director of scary movies such as “Cabin Fever,” “Hostel,” “The Green Inferno” and “Knock Knock.” He also helmed 2018’s “Death Wish” remake starring Bruce Willis, as well as the PG family film “The House With a Clock In Its Walls,” featuring Jack Black and Cate Blanchett.

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