The gang is back together again in the trailer for HBO Max’s upcoming A Christmas Story Christmas, the long-awaited sequel to the beloved 1983 classic holiday movie, A Christmas Story. And unlike previous sequels, this time the surviving and/or working original cast members have reunited, along with a few new faces.
Going by the trailer, it appears that Ralphie (Peter Billingsley) has returned to the family home for the holidays after the passing of his father, the Old Man (portrayed by Darren McGavin in the original film), along with his wife (Erinn Hayes) and two children. But now, he must follow in his father’s footsteps to provide his wife and children, his mother (who has been replaced by actress Julie Hagerty), brother Randy, and childhood friends Flick and Schwartz (Ian Petrella, Scott Schwartz, and R. D. Robb, reprising their original roles) with a Christmas they’ll never forget.
After arriving back to his hometown, Ralphie visits some of his old haunts with his family, such as Higbee’s department store where he was famously kicked in the face by Santa Claus. Flick is also now the bartender at his own local watering hole, aptly named Flick’s Tavern, where he tells his old friend: “I suggest you start drinking, and don’t stop until New Years.”
Since the original film was set in 1940, the sequel supposedly takes place in the ’70s — though, it doesn’t feel quite true to the era with jokes about child labor peppered into the trailer. One thing that hasn’t changed is that the triple dog dare is still very much alive and well, but without the Bumpuses dogs, a problematic Chinese restaurant Christmas dinner, and a pervy lamp, it remains to be seen how the sequel will hold up.
We’ll find out when A Christmas Story Christmas premieres on HBO Max on Nov. 17, 2022.