Eli Roth Admits ‘Thanksgiving 2’ Has to Wait Until Schedules Align

Any Thanksgiving fans hoping they’d get to dive in for some seconds this year have been given a disappointing update about that franchise, with director Eli Roth admitting that scheduling has prevented any substantial momentum being developed since Thanksgiving 2 was announced. The filmmaker noted that the delays in the project are related to the cast’s busy schedules, but given the grounded nature of the concept, promised that when the timing is right, it won’t be difficult to bring the project to fruition.

Speaking with Variety, Roth confirmed:

“Everybody wants to do it. I’m gonna have it locked and loaded, and we’ll find a time when we’re all available … We’ll just go back for a few weeks and have fun.”

Arguably the biggest holdups on the project are that Addison Rae, who played survivor Gabby, is busy with her own musical career while Milo Manheim, who played Ryan, has just been cast in the live-action adaptation of Tangled. Original star Nell Verlaque is also expected to return, so while fans will understandably be frustrated that the wait just got a bit longer, knowing that it’s in service of bringing back the original cast will hopefully alleviate some concerns.

A New Entry for Holiday Horror

TriStar Pictures

The world of horror changed in some significant ways back in the 1970s, with movies like Black Christmas and Halloween helping solidify the slasher subgenre. Not only did these movies help establish the concept of a mysterious murderer, but their holiday settings helped demonstrate that there was a lot of excitement in the juxtaposition between events that were meant to be celebratory instead becoming violent.

In the ’80s, fans were given movies like My Bloody Valentine, New Year’s Evil, and April Fool’s Day, all furthering the popular trend of holiday horror. Not to mention, both the Halloween and Friday the 13th franchises unveiled several installments throughout the decade.

Still, while filmmakers regularly explored elements of Christmas and Halloween in their horror movies, only a select few unfolded on Thanksgiving, with horror fans having to settle for things like Blood Rage or Thankskilling. In 2007, though, Eli Roth released the fake trailer for Thanksgiving in Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino’s Grindhouse, depicting a murderer dressed up as a pilgrim killing people in a small Massachusetts town.

It took more than 15 years, but Roth finally made his fake trailer a real movie with Thanksgiving in 2023, with the movie itself replicating a number of familiar shots and sequences from that original trailer. The movie was a moderate success in its own right, sitting at 83% positive reviews on aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes and taking in $46+ million on a reported budget of $15 million. Audiences and critics alike appreciated the embrace of the ’90s-themed slasher, putting teens in the crosshairs of a masked killer while also offering up some comedy. Adding to the adoration was that it was finally a movie that fully embraced all of the traditions of the holiday, as it’s already become an annual watch for some.