While insisting that a sequel is unlikely to happen, director Henry Selick explains why a prequel to the holiday horror movie is more interesting to explore.
- Oct 16, 2023
AceShowbiz - Henry Selick is mulling over the idea of "Nightmare Before Christmas" prequel. The 70-year-old director sat behind lens for the classic 1993 stop-motion animated festive flick, which was conceived by Tim Burton, and though he insisted a sequel to the film is unlikely to happen, he likes the idea of exploring Jack Skellington's back story.
"['Nightmare...'] is a perfect movie [that] came out of the perfect time, only to grow into something far bigger over the years. I think Tim in particular feels like, 'why mess with that?' " he told People magazine.
"He certainly doesn't need to make more money from a sequel. He has had so many other successes, and so far nobody's come up with a great idea for a sequel. And I still think that Tim gets to decide. I don't think there's any idea that would convince him."
That being said, "It might be more interesting to do a prequel. There might be a more interesting story there about how Jack became the King of Halloweentown."
And if a prequel came about, Chris Sarandon, who provided Jack's speaking voice, would "absolutely" be on board. He said, "To quote Henry, 'F*** yeah.' If there were a sequel, I'd be there in a minute."
Henry previously revealed he and Tim weren't on board for a sequel because Disney would want them to use computer-generated animation. He told Collider, "(A) sequel has come up several times. Initially, (Disney) always said, 'But it will have to be CG.' And that was a non-starter for me. It certainly was for Tim Burton."
The "Coraline" filmmaker did suggest that both he and Tim would be open to making a short film based on "The Nightmare Before Christmas". Selick said, "The idea of a short has never come up in the past. I think Tim might be open to a short. It would have to be so refreshing... such a new take to justify making a sequel, but a short makes good sense."
