Confirmation & Everything We Know

Summary

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• Eli Roth’s Thanksgiving is a slasher film that brings terror to Turkey Day, with a sequel, Thanksgiving 2, in the works for a 2025 release.
• Despite its divisive subject matter, Thanksgiving has been well-received by critics for its clever social satire and subtext beneath the gore.
• Eli Roth, known for his horror films, typically doesn’t make sequels, but Thanksgiving has changed that, with Roth excitedly promising to outdo himself with a sequel if fans show support.

Eli Roth’s Thanksgiving brings terror to Turkey Day in a brand-new slasher film, and a frightening sequel, Thanksgiving 2, is on the horizon. Expanded from a fake trailer that originally appeared in 2007’s Grindhouse, Thanksgiving is a classic revenge slasher in which a crazed axe-wielding murderer stalks the town of Plymouth, Massachusetts in order to get even for a violent Black Friday shopping riot. Made with Roth’s signature penchant for gore, Thanksgiving is also a clever social satire about the rise of consumerism and how it ruins the spirit of the holidays.

Despite its divisive subject matter and blood-soaked scenes, Thanksgiving has been warmly received by many critics who appreciate the film’s subtext that plays out beneath the typical slasher movie mayhem (via Rotten Tomatoes). Thanksgiving is currently the third movie to be adapted from a fake trailer in Grindhouse, and it follows Robert Rodriguez’s 2010 action film Machete and 2011’s Hobo With a Shotgun, which starred Rutger Hauer in the title role. Much like Machete which has blossomed into a franchise of its own, a slasher movie like Thanksgiving has unlimited potential when it comes to sequels.

Thanksgiving 2 Is Confirmed

Just a few short weeks after the movie opened to a respectable box office take, Eli Roth has announced that Thanksgiving 2 is on the way. While still urging fans to rush to theaters and take in the first movie, Roth revealed that a sequel has been given the green light. Roth also mentioned that he will be taking a year off to tweak the script, but assured fans that the movie is currently slated for a 2025 release, most likely around the Thanksgiving holiday.

Thanksgiving 2 Story Possibilities

Like many holiday horror movies, the story possibilities for Thanksgiving 2 are nearly endless. Slasher villains have a way of cropping up again and again, and the burgeoning fright icon John Carver could make like Jason Vorhees and become a repeat offender. The first movie’s incendiary ending doesn’t necessarily exclude a sequel since horror movie baddies find ways to come back from the dead as many times as they need to. Thanksgiving hacked its way through the majority of its main cast, and it is entirely possible that the sequel will see a whole new crop of victims.

Do Eli Roth Movies Usually Have Sequels?

Eli Roth is one of the preeminent horror movie directors of the early 21st century, and his nausea-inducing gore movies like Cabin Fever and Hostel earned him a spot in the “Splat Pack”. However, he is also a bit different from his horror contemporaries because he doesn’t typically make sequels. So far, the only sequel to an Eli Roth film that he was actually involved with was 2007’s Hostel 2, which was made in the immediate wake of the success of the first movie.

However, Thanksgiving has seemingly changed the tune for Roth, and he has been rather candid about its future as a franchise. In a piece from The Boston Globe, Roth admitted “If people come out and they go see the movie, I will dive back in and I will try to outdo myself with a sequel“. That enthusiasm is good news for the recently-announced sequel, and it means Thanksgiving 2 might be even scarier than the first.

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  Thanksgiving

  Release Date:

  2023-11-17

  Director:

  Eli Roth

  Cast:

  Addison Rae, Patrick Dempsey, Jalen Thomas Brooks, Nell Verlaque, Milo Manheim, Gina Gershon

  Rating:

  R

  Runtime:

  106 Minutes

  Genres:

  Horror, Thriller

  Writers:

  Eli Roth, Jeff Rendell

  Studio(s):

  Spyglass Media Group, Electromagnetic Productions

  Distributor(s):

  TriStar Pictures