Eli Roth‘s “Thanksgiving” is currently still showing in cinemas, but that hasn’t stopped those responsible from announcing a horror sequel straight away.
Thanksgiving, the US Thanksgiving holiday, has so far been criminally neglected when it comes to horror films. Apart from the hard-to-digest amateur horror “ThanksKilling” with a demonic turkey and “Black Friday – Chance of Survival Greatly Reduced!” with Bruce Campbell, which is actually set exactly one day later, there are basically no notable representatives – until today: with “Thanksgiving”, director Eli Roth (“Hostel“) has fulfilled a long-cherished dream and finally staged his own classic slasher.
In an interview, the 51-year-old revealed that this holiday is “the biggest thing” for someone like him, who grew up in the US state of Massachusetts. And: He hates Christmas movies:
“November was generally a drought time for horror movies. After Halloween, from November 1, there were only family and Christmas movies for the rest of the year. You had to wait until January or February. But I don’t want to wait. I hate those movies. I just want horror movies.”
And since apparently no one else wanted to grant him this wish, the filmmaker simply took matters into his own hands and, together with screenwriter Jeff Rendell, turned what was once a fake trailer for Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez’s grindhouse double feature into a feature-length slasher. It only took 15 years. But the wait was worth it: the reviews on the rating platform Rotten Tomatoes are a very good 83 percent, while the audience is also satisfied with a good 79 percent. Teresa also liked Roth’s return to the horror genre surprisingly well.
And since “Thanksgiving” is also doing well in cinemas with a current box office of 30 million US dollars and a low budget of a mere 15 million US dollars, it is only logical that Sony Pictures has given the green light to a sequel. Roth himself delivered this happy news via Instagram:
“Breaking news! John Carver will murder again! The sequel to ‘Thanksgiving’ has been greenlit!!! Thank you to everyone who supported this original horror in theaters. Watch it on the big screen in theaters while it’s still on. The sequel will be out in 2025! [We’re] taking a year to get the script right, start work today!”
Roth had hoped in advance that global horror fans would welcome his John Carver Pilgrim look-alike killer with open arms, helping to give birth to a potential new franchise. This is something that only happens “every ten to 15 years”, he summarized. And as it now turns out, he was right.
This is what “Thanksgiving” is about
The traditional harvest festival is celebrated in Plymouth in the US state of Massachusetts. No wonder, the town was founded in 1620 by the Pilgrim Fathers, named after the English port city from where they set sail on the Mayflower. But then disaster strikes the community: On Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, a riot breaks out in a local department store, leaving two people dead. A year later, when the people of Plymouth have only just recovered, a gruesome series of murders takes place on Thanksgiving Day. And the victims are primarily people who are partly to blame for the catastrophe of a year ago.
“Thanksgiving” is currently showing in cinemas uncut and without a youth rating.
