8 Great Hallmark Holiday Movies That Shouldn’t Get Sequels
There’s nothing quite like the lineup of Hallmark Christmas movies that debuts across Countdown to Christmas and Miracles of Christmas each year. And thanks to 24/7 holiday films playing across the Hallmark Channel and Hallmark Movies & Mysteries, we can rewatch some old faves as well.
But just because we can rewatch movies from past years and may occasionally want to see more from those romances doesn’t mean we should. After all, sequels have broken up couples that got together at the end of the first films, whether to see them find their way back to one another (The Nine Kittens of Christmas) or because a new love interest has been brought in (A Cozy Christmas Inn), and there are just some relationships we’d rather not see that happen to. Then there are the ones that were just so good and did something different that we’d rather not see any attempts to recapture that magic.
And so below, we’re taking a look at some Hallmark holiday movies (including one from 2023!) that we’d rather not see follow-ups to in future years.
Write Before Christmas (2019)
Torrey DeVitto’s Jessica crossed paths and fell in love with Chad Michael Murray’s Luke after sending Christmas cards to five people who had a great impact on her life. Not only would we not want to see the two break up in order for something to bring them back together, but we also don’t want to see Hallmark just replicate the concept (or something similar) with new characters (with or without cameos from DeVitto or Murray). It stands out because it’s a fresh concept.
One Royal Holiday (2020)
Don’t get us wrong. We love this film and would love to see more of these characters (especially with that cast!). However, we already watched Laura Osnes’ Anna and Aaron Tveit’s James fall in love when his royal family was snowed in (and then gladly stayed) at her family’s inn. We don’t need to see them broken up or even have a royal wedding for them be the focus of a film. We wouldn’t be against a movie with their best friends Sara (Krystal Joy Brown) and Christopher (Bradley Rose) and their romance the focus, but what made that such a joy in the first film (though we’d have gladly taken more of it) was how drama-free it was. Making them the center of a movie would inevitably change that. We also don’t want to see them just repeating the same fun (such as how happy the royals were every time something kept them another day) in hopes of creating another hit.
On the 12th Date of Christmas (2020)
Mallory Jansen and Tyler Hynes starred as two game designers up for the same promotion who had to work together to create a romantic scavenger hunt around the city for the holidays. It was a fresh concept, which is why it can’t (and shouldn’t) be replicated. Bringing back the same characters for another film would likely result in an off-screen, between movies breakup and some sort of project to bring them back together, which would negate some of what made the first so special.
The Nine Kittens of Christmas (2021)
Listen, we love Kimberley Sustad and Brandon Routh with cats, we do. But the first film, The Nine Lives of Christmas, is one of Hallmark’s best only for the sequel to have had Marilee and Zachary break up between films. Sure, we enjoyed watching them find their way back to each other (with kittens!) but we’re not sure we have it in us to watch any sort of misunderstanding between the two in a third. And since this would be a Hallmark movie, you know there would be one.
Sister Swap (2021)
While we enjoyed the connected films, A Hometown Holiday and Christmas in the City, starring Kimberly Williams-Paisley and Ashley Williams, we wouldn’t want another two Sister Swap films, nor would it work considering both of their characters found where they wanted to be and what they wanted to do by the end of them. Rather, we’d love to see another film in which both are prominent and together more than we previously saw them. (Three Wise Men and a Baby showed that can work.)
A Cozy Christmas Inn (2022)
The 2014 film Christmas Under Wraps introduced Garland and Andy Holliday’s (David O’Donnell) family’s shipping company, with him falling for visiting doctor Lauren (Candace Cameron Bure). O’Donnell returned for this 2022 movie, and with Bure now under a deal with Great American Family, Andy and Lauren broke up off screen and she left the Alaskan town. Instead, Jodie Sweetin came in as Andy’s ex-girlfriend, and the two fell back together. As much as we enjoy the quirkiness of Garland, there’s only so many times we can hear “that’s Garland for you” and we’d rather just think of that world as it was left, with Andy and Erika together.
Ghosts of Christmas Always (2022)
With a modern take on A Christmas Carol, there were a couple twists when it came to just who was to be helped by the Ghosts: It turned out to be Present, Katherine (Kim Matula), who would return to Earth to new love Peter (Ian Harding). And sure, another film could see Past (Lori Tan Chinn) and Future (Reginald VelJohnson), with a new Present, helping someone new, but it just wouldn’t be the same (and would veer away from what made this one special).
Ms. Christmas Comes to Town (2023)
Amanda (Erica Durance) and Travis (Brennan Elliott) fell for each other after she mistook him for her blind date, then he joined her and Gale (Barbara Niven) on the road. (Travis was Gale’s nurse on the Holiday Shopping Channel host’s farewell tour.) And since Travis joined Amanda onstage and their romance blossomed — she didn’t even get angry after learning the lie, and the two never split — it’s easy to imagine a potential sequel: Amanda and Travis on tour together, perhaps with some tension due to a recent breakup or fight. But let’s just enjoy it for what it is rather than risk taking what made it stand out and using clichés.
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O
I definitely see the point. I don't disagree with any of the choices. In fact, I don't disagree with the whole premise, either. OTOH, I do have a few sequels I'd like to see. Perhaps foremost on that list is a follow-up of sorts to 2020's "Christmas with the Darlings." Not with Jess and Max (Kristina Law and Carlo Marks) as leads, though, but honing in on what happens after Charles (Steve Bacic) stopped being such an officious, entitled curmudgeon and started to open up to both familial and romantic love. He could use some growth-promoting romance of his own about now, don't you think?
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J
why would any Hallmark movie need a sequel??
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