It’s hard to believe that the original The Santa Clause came out in 1994–almost 25 years ago. Since then, two sequels have come out, and if there’s ever going to be another installment in the film series, this year would be the perfect time to announce it. Imagine that. The Santa Clause 4: The Anniversary Clause. Of course, that could never be a working title, but it seems some fans have wanted to see a fourth movie for so long that they’ve been coming up with various “clause” titles. The Adventure Clause, The Krumpus Clause, and The Substitute Clause were just a few of the suggestions we found online. The last time we saw Tim Allen all dressed up as the generous man with the white beard, it was 2006. That’s a staggering 13 years ago. Some have said that it might have been too long already, that the story is now forgotten. But let’s just see.
Thrillist.com made a ranked list of the best Christmas movies there ever were. The classics were all on the list. It’s a Wonderful Life, The Christmas Story, Home Alone, Elf, and of course, the original The Santa Clause. We know that everyone’s got their own favorite Christmas movies, but it’s really difficult to argue against a Santa movie. And once you’ve seen The Santa Clause, it’s only natural to want to see the second and third parts. So the desire to see these films actually renew each year.
Allen even tweeted a picture back in 2017 that ignited The Santa Clause question even more. As you can see from this article from Popculture.com, the actor said he was growing a beard for a movie role. The short white beard is definitely slightly reminiscent of Santa’s beard, but it was far from being a confirmation for a movie part 4. Still, fans from everywhere overwhelmed Allen with responses about another Santa movie. As it turns out, the beard was actually for a Christmas movie–only it wasn’t for Santa Clause 4. The beard was for 2017’s El Camino Christmas.
With all that said, this movie franchise is likely not to see a fourth installment. We love Santa and all, and Tim Allen was great as Santa, but we believe the third movie killed all future generations of The Santa Clause–including the future of Scott Calvin’s son, Buddy Claus. It’s true; we might never see Buddy Claus grow up, and the reason why that’s the case is going to be largely financial. When it comes to franchises, it’s almost always impossible to top the first film in any series. There are a few exceptions to that rule, but Santa Clause is not one of them. According to Screenrant.com, the entire series made roughly $500 million in worldwide box office sales. However, the profits got lower after each installment. By the time the third movie was out, The Santa Clause film was earning way less than what the 2nd film made.
Those are disappointing numbers, to say the least, but to be bombarded by critics at that is just as disappointing. Not many people enjoyed the third installment much (maybe it was just Martin Short and his Jack Frost character take), proven by its low grossing numbers. Why make a movie that might tank in the theaters again? You just don’t, especially if there are so many outstanding classic holiday films to choose from already.
In addition, the fact that the movie was never announced probably means that it just won’t happen at this point (13 years, remember?). When you lose momentum on a project, it’s difficult to get back on track. Would Tim Allen even agree to another film? He’s already busy with the Toy Story franchise, and this franchise happens to be highly successful just as this article talks about. He’s also busy with his sitcom, Last Man Standing, which has been going strong since 2011 despite a short break back in 2017. There really is no room for Allen to be jumping backwards. He’s got a couple of strong projects going on right now, and there’s absolutely no need for him to mess that up. Anyone would probably advise him against doing another Santa Clause film, and that’s probably why it won’t happen.
The only thing we can picture for The Santa Clause franchise is either a reboot or a revisit later on. Maybe at this point, someone else could take the reins to the sleigh. Buddy Claus would be a good candidate, and we can certainly picture a few actors that would play a good older Buddy. The story at this point has the chance of starting from scratch and completely disconnected from the previous Santa Clause movies. We couldn’t tell you if that would be a good move or not, but it’s definitely a chance to make the plotline better. If we’re going to follow the timeline completely, Buddy would only be a teenager at this point. That can be a totally different point of view, and it could be quite interesting for a family movie.
The other option is a total reboot. We can have the same storyline but with a different Scott Calvin. There are plenty of actors today that can breathe a new life into that charming Santa character. We could totally picture Bradley Cooper, Chris Pratt, Dax Shephard, Chris Pine, or even Ryan Reynolds in those shoes. There are plenty of talents to choose from.
But even then, it just won’t happen. Sometimes, it’s better to just leave things the way they are. There’s a reason why A Christmas Story was never rebooted. It’s a true film classic. As mediocre as the two sequels were, the original The Santa Clause film has been considered a classic for a long time now. No matter how many films are redone and rebooted today, there are just some movies that should just be left alone. So we’re going to say no to Santa Clause 4, and so should you.
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