The door has not been firmly closed on the stop-motion features The Nightmare Before Christmas and Coraline getting sequels. Conceived by Tim Burton and released in 1993, The Nightmare Before Christmas was directed by Henry Selick who saw the film go on to have monumental success in the coming years. Selick would later helm the 2009 stop-motion movie Coraline. Like his other movies, the film was never given an official sequel.
This is not to say that Selick is completely opposed to seeing sequels made for the movies he has directed. In a new interview with Screen Rant to promote his latest film, Wendell & WildSelick addressed the possibility of both The Nightmare Before Christmas and Coraline getting follow-up movies. While Selick notes that it would require a strong enough story for him to want to see either sequel getting greenlit, as he wouldn’t want either movie to feel like a simple retread of the first installment.
“People have always wanted a sequel for Nightmare and Coraline. If there’s a good story, it might be worth doing. But too frequently, sequels are just a remake of the first film with some mild changes.”
In The Nightmare Before Christmasthe King of Halloween Town, Jack Skellington, inadvertently winds up in Christmas Town and goes to great lengths to bring its holiday festivities back home for his spooky friends and neighbors to enjoy. While there have not been any official movie sequels for The Nightmare Before Christmasthe mythology has been expanded upon through other mediums, such as books and video games. In 2021, Disney released the book Long Live the Pumpkin Queenwhich took place after the events of the film with Sally as the main character. This is perhaps the closest fans may ever get to seeing a true sequel to the original movie.
Neil Gaiman Is Also Open to Coraline 2
Coraline was based on Neil Gaiman’s novella of the same name, though the film was written and directed by Selick. It was a pretty big hit at the box office and garnered great acclaim, but this is also a movie that did not have a sequel. It has maintained its popularity since its release in 2009, however, as seen by its return to theaters in 2021 for its anniversary.
Just recently, Gaiman also touched on the possibility of Coraline 2. Gaiman seems to have a similar opinion in that he hasn’t totally written off the possibility, but feels that it’s only worth pursuing if he can think of a new concept that matches the original in terms of quality. As he told ComicBook.com:
“What I’ve always said is that I wouldn’t have do a Coraline 2 unless I could come up with a story that was as good as Coraline 1. And so far I haven’t come up with (anything)…Actually, as good or better because you don’t want to do, you just don’t want to do one of those sequels that sort of feels like a made for video sequel. If you’re gonna do something, it needs to be a Toy Story 2 or The Godfather Part 2 level sequel where you’re actually upping your game. So I absolutely wouldn’t rule it out, but would absolutely want to go ‘Okay, that is the thing that is just even cooler than Coraline.'”
Selick’s new film, Wendell & Wildwill hit Netflix on Oct. 28, 2022.
