The marketing campaign for Eli Roth’s Thanksgiving promised “there will be no leftovers…” However, thankfully for us slasher-hungry audience members, plenty of characters survived the holiday carnage, paving the way for a second helping.
Shortly after the sleeper success of Thanksgiving, Spyglass Media and Sony Pictures confirmed that a sequel had been greenlit. Roth was eager to tackle that project, reuniting with co-writer Jeff Rendell to pen the script.
However, word on Thanksgiving 2 has been somewhat sparse since then, and with the season of thanksgiving having recently passed, we finally have some major updates.
In a brand-new interview, Roth lifted the lid on his sequel, confirming the script is complete and that he is now in “soft-prep for a March 2025 shoot.”
This mirrors the schedule of the 2023 original, which filmed through the spring of 2023, for a November release.
Roth further elaborated that he intends to deliver on the unspoken promise that horror sequels must be bigger and better, stating:
“We’re upping the ante but we are not going to do it with more money. That keeps it tight and lean and mean and forces us to make decisions. There’s a lot of setting up that we did in the first one that we don’t have to deal with now. It can just be all pay-off. I’ve come up with stuff that is going to be a challenge. And I want it to be a challenge to pull off. Because if I’ve come up with the stuff that I think will make the best kills, then I’m going to do it like I’m never going to make another movie again.”
Roth continued, advising fans to expect a “continuation” of the events in the original. To that end, the filmmaker confirmed that cast members Nell Verlaque and Rick Hoffman will reprise their roles as final girl Jessica Wright and her father Thomas. However, the director remained tight-lipped on whether Patrick Demsey will resume the mantle of brutal new slasher icon John Carver.
So, things are coming together nicely for Thanksgiving 2, and audiences are eager for a second helping.
Although no concrete release date is currently in place, the sequel is expected to hit theatres in November 2025. More announcements are expected soon, so watch this space.
