Will there be a Spirited 2? Ryan Reynolds and Will Ferrell’s Christmas movie is here, and we’ve spoken to director Sean Anders about whether to expect a sequel.
Spirited isn’t the Christmas Carol story you know. It’s a classic fable with a 2022 lens, with Reynolds playing a modern scrooge in Clint Briggs, a media consultant who spreads controversy, conflict, and disinformation with glee.
However, he’s not the focus – it’s Present (Ferrell), a ghost who sees Clint’s “unredeemable” stature as a challenge after two centuries of haunts, but soon discovers the life he’s missing by spending so much time in others.
While taking some unexpected turns along the way, Spirited has a feel-good ending – check out our review here – but should viewers be expecting Spirited 2?
Will there be a Spirited 2?
In an interview with Dexerto ahead of the release of Spirited on Apple TV+, Sean Anders addressed the movie’s ending and whether he was leaving the door open for a sequel.
“I feel like it’s more of a one-and-done thing. I think sequels to Christmas movies are generally not the best idea,” he laughed.
He’s not wrong. In the echelon of Christmas movie sequels, there are two that are good: Home Alone 2 and Gremlins 2: The New Batch. It’s basically a yuletide curse.
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However, Anders isn’t shutting the door completely. “Never say never, you never know what ideas can come up, I think right now we’re just in the throes of getting this one done and out,” he continued.
“We certainly didn’t create it with that in mind, we just wanted the audience to have a sense of these characters having lives beyond the story. It was more about that than setting up a sequel.”
The director sees a future for Spirited elsewhere: on the stage. “I would very much like to see that and be involved in that,” he said.
The Greatest Showman and La La Land, which had songs written by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, have both made the transition to Broadway and the West End. Spirited is ways away from that right now, but Anders would “love” to see that happen.
“It’s a little bit cart before the horse, right now it’s all about getting the movie out and seeing how people react to the film. But if they react in the way I hope they do, I’d love to see it reach the stage,” he added.
Spirited is available on Apple TV+ now.