Justin Long, Michael Parks and Haley Joel Osment will all return for their next go-round with the burgeoning (and rather unexpected) horrormeister, this time for a film about the mythical Alpine devil Krampus, the 'evil Santa' that comes round every Christmas to reckon with those who've made the Naughty list.
Says Smith:
"In America, we're taught that nice kids gets presents from Santa and naughty kids get coal. But in countries like Germany, Austria, Bavaria, Romania and Hungary, Christmas is more metal than merry: Saint Nicholas brings a sack full of toys for good kids and the Krampus carries an empty bag for taking away the bad kids. I wanna see THAT Christmas movie. So rather than wait for it, we'll make it instead."
XYZ Films (which, full disclosure: ScreenAnarchy founder/editor Todd Brown is a partner in) will be handling international sales. They'll be launching it at the Cannes Film Market in May. The film is expected to shoot this fall.