Christmas Story Sequel Is Bringing Back The Same Actors To Play Randy, Scut, Flick And Schwartz
The gang is coming back together and, in all honesty, I'm still not entirely sure why. I've probably watched and thoroughly enjoyed "A Christmas Story" more times than I can count during TBS' annual "24 Hours of 'A Christmas Story'" marathon every holiday season, but I can confidently state that I never once felt the need to see the story continue in a direct-to-TV sequel — which actually happened — or with a legacy sequel bringing back Peter Billingsley as Ralphie — which we recently reported on — in his famous role. Well, not counting The Poor Scientist Who Jeff Bridges Yells At in "Iron Man," at least.
But as I always like to say, news is meant to be accepted, not understood. (Confession: I've never actually said that before in my life.) That's rarely applied more than now, as we've just received another update on the new sequel. It brings me very little joy to report that, according to Deadline, four actors from the original 1983 film will be returning to reprise their roles: Ian Petrella as Ralphie's brother Randy, Zack Ward as the redheaded menace and neighborhood bully Scut Farkus, Scott Schwartz as Ralphie's friend Flick (more famously known as the misguided kid who licked a metal pole and froze his tongue to it), and R.D. Robb as Schwartz, the friend who constantly wears that oversized winter hat, as seen in the photo above. Because this is totally the kind of movie that demands a nostalgia-infused revisit decades after the fact, instead of a tremendously silly movie with little to no actual plot that we should probably leave well enough alone. Or maybe I'm just a grump.
In any case, keep reading for all the details on the oddly-titled "A Christmas Story Christmas." (Come on, people, if we're seriously going to do this movie, "Another Christmas Story" was right there!)
'What, are you gonna cry now? Come on, crybaby, cry for me. Come on, cry [maniacal laughter ensues]''
"A Christmas Story Christmas" is rapidly building its cast and anyone worried that the sequel wouldn't, I don't know, respect the legacy of the original or something like that can probably rest easy now. Deadline reports that the original core cast members have been rounded up (presumably with their consent, though we can't say for sure) and signed on the dotted line for the sequel.
For Ian Petrella, this will actually serve as his very first role ever since appearing in the original. Zack Ward, on the other hand, most recently appeared in "Survive the Game," two episodes of "American Horror Story," "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia," voiced the villainous Konstantin in the "Rise of the Tomb Raider" video game (which I'm only just now discovering for myself as I write this, who knew!), and 2007's "Transformers." Scott Schwartz went on to star in "Kidco" in 1984 and the 2020 series "The Quarantine Bunch," while R.D. Robb most recently had a recurring role in "The Goldbergs." The script is written by Nick Schenk and will be directed by Clay Kaytis. Here's the sequel's synopsis:
"The film follows an adult Ralphie (Peter Billingsley, reprising his starring role) in the 1970s as he returns to the house on Cleveland Street to deliver his kids a magical Christmas like the one he had growing up. With the same attention-to-real-life tone of the first, Ralphie reconnects with childhood friends, reconciles the passing of his Old Man and sows the seeds for the origins of the beloved holiday classic."
It's almost like that most recent "Scream" movie was making quite a few salient points with all that "requel" business, eh? "A Christmas Story Christmas" is coming to HBO Max on a to-be-announced date, whether like it or not.