The Nightmare Before Christmas director Henry Selick has an idea for a follow-up to the movie that digs into the past.
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Selick, who directed Tim Burton‘s vision 30 years ago, and helmed another stop-motion gem in 2009’s Coraline, told People magazine that he believes a prequel might be the best path if another movie were ever to be made. Not that Selick holds out much hope of Burton returning to it.
Why? Well, because Selick feels The Nightmare Before Christmas is “a perfect movie [that] came out of the perfect time, only to grow into something far bigger over the years.”
“I think Tim [Burton], in particular, feels like, why mess with that? He certainly doesn’t need to make more money from a sequel. He has had so many other successes, and so far nobody’s come up with a great idea for a sequel. And I still think that Tim gets to decide. I don’t think there’s any idea that would convince him.”
He followed up that dismissal with his prequel idea, “There might be a more interesting story there about how Jack became the King of Halloween Town.”
It’s not a particularly revolutionary idea, and if Burton is as opposed to returning to that world as Selick suggests, it seems an unlikely one to get off the ground. But then again, Burton seems to have found some of his old spark by filming a sequel to another of his early creations, Beetlejuice 2, so maybe that could reignite a desire to go back to Halloween Town.
In the same article, Jack Skellington himself (well, the talking half of him) Chris Sarandon claims he’d ”be there in a minute” for any sequel.
Burton did return to stop motion with Corpse Bride in 2005 and 2012’s Frankenweenie. Selick says he’d reunite with Burton on a different project.
“If it was the right project that we both had a passion for, no problem. I’d love to work with him again,” says Selick, who had Burton as a producer for his James and the Giant Peach adaptation.
The Nightmare Before Christmas is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, and can be watched on Disney+.
