Maxwell Friedman and Andrew “King Bach” Bachelor join Violent Night 2 cast
A few years ago, Universal Pictures teamed with producers David Leitch and Kelly McCormick of 87North Productions and director Tommy Wirkola to bring us the highly entertaining, R-rated holiday thriller Violent Night (read our 8/10 review at THIS LINK)… and now, Violent Night 2 is gearing up, aiming for a December 4, 2026 theatrical release. David Harbour will once again play Santa Claus in the sequel, and in recent weeks the supporting cast has started to assemble around him. We’ve previously heard that Daniela Melchior (The Suicide Squad), Kristen Bell (Veronica Mars), Joe Pantoliano (Bad Boys for Life), and Jared Harris (House of Dynamite) are in the cast, and now Deadline has revealed that AEW wrestling superstar Maxwell Friedman, aka MJF, and influencer Andrew “King Bach” Bachelor will also appear in the film.
Deadline notes that MJF is known as one the biggest Heels (villains) in the entirety of wrestling, and recently took acting roles in The Iron Claw and Happy Gilmore 2. Bachelor started off as one of the most influential names on the internet (with a total following of over 70 million fans and growing), and is now known as an in-demand actor, producer and content creator. His acting credits include Coffee and Kareem and The Babysitter: Killer Queen. Details on the roles MJF and King Bach will be playing in Violent Night 2 have not been revealed.
Violent Night director Tommy Wirkola and screenwriters Patrick Casey and Josh Miller are back for Violent Night 2. While Casey and Miller have stayed busy in recent years by writing each film in the Sonic the Hedgehog trilogy, they have taken the occasional break from scripting Sonic action to write about Santa Claus taking on bad guys. Violent Night showed what happens when a team of elite mercenaries breaks into a wealthy family compound on Christmas Eve, taking everyone inside hostage. But the team isn’t prepared for a surprise combatant: Santa Claus is on the grounds, and he’s about to show why this Nick is no saint.
Miller told Collider, “The Violent Night movies are not as big budget as the Sonic movies, but we still want this one to feel bigger than the first one. And you don’t want Santa just trapped in a mansion again.” Casey added, “Santa’s gonna take his shirt off even more in this one. We know what the people want. We know people are hungry for more of his Viking backstory. David is especially excited about that stuff.“ Miller also told Syfy Wire, “The first one obviously lived in a Die Hard space. We can’t tease too much (about Violent Night 2), other than we’re trying to bring in a little Western influence.” Casey mentioned that they have thought about giving the sequel the subtitle Massacre on 34th Street.
Violent Night 2 is being produced by 87North founders Kelly McCormick and David Leitch through their first-look deal with Universal Pictures. Universal’s Executive Vice President of Production Development Matt Reilly and Director of Development Tony Ducret are overseeing the project for the Studio.
What do you think of Maxwell Friedman, aka MJF, and Andrew “King Bach” Bachelor joining the cast of Violent Night 2? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
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