Crown Media The Nine Kittens of Christmas
Hallmark’s “The Nine Kittens of Christmas” is the sequel to the wildly popular original movie, “The Nine Lives of Christmas.” But is there a chance for a third movie? Kimberley Sustad recently responded to that question.
Sustad Said They’re Thinking of Ideas for the Characters
During an interview with Hallmark Happenings, Sustad was asked if they might make a third movie.
First, she simply said, laughing: “Let’s talk about that after you see this… I was saying, ‘We should just take these two characters and put them in a crime-solving situation.'”
She and the Hallmark Happenings then chatted about all the different cat detective and crime-solving shows that are out there.
“We’re thinking, we’re thinking,” Sustad said about ideas for Zach and Marilee.
So while there are no plans in place at this time for a third movie, it looks like they’re at least considering the idea, based on Sustad’s answers.
She Said the Seven Year Time Period Between the Two Movies Allowed the Characters to Mature
Sustad also told Hallmark Happenings that the seven-year time period between the two movies gave the main characters, Zach and Marilee, time to mature and change.
“I think there is a beauty to how after seven years we mature as people,” she said. “There is a natural maturity to both Marilee and Zachary that I think adds a new sentiment to this. Because we are dealing with something that was familiar at one point as characters, and it’s more in the longing of that history than it is … a brand new thing … There is a sense of knowing, but using that distance and that time [where] so much is unsaid…”
She said the heart of the movie is “contemplating the decisions you’ve made in life and whether they were the right ones … the choices we make and where they lead us.”
This, she said, gives the movie extra depth even though it’s also a lot of fun.
“So I think it has a little bit more of a serious tone at some points, but I think it adds a little extra depth,” she shared.
Of course, she added, Marilee is still “very much Marilee” and the movie is still a lot of fun.
She said that this movie is different because it can theoretically stand on its own due to how much the two characters have grown and changed.
“It isn’t your typical sequel,” she said. “…[The two movies] can actually quite stand on their own… It is a whole new story and a whole new love story, and it will be as great, I hope… They are living vastly different lives when we enter this movie. … There’s an old and a new to the movie, and that was exciting to me…”
The movie is the culmination of years of preparation. Sustad was already talking about a sequel in 2020.
She told My Devotional Thoughts in an interview in 2020: “Well, I’ve already dropped that a sequel of ‘Nine Lives of Christmas’ is coming. That’s happening. That’s a pretty big one…”
In July 2020, Sustad shared with The Bubbly Sesh podcast that she was already working on the sequel.
Sustad said:
We do have … the sequel in development. … ‘The Nine Lives of Christmas’ sequel is underway, in development, and it’s looking good. … We’re very excited. I’m really excited to put that character back on. Obviously, we’ve had some apprehension because of how popular it is, and Hallmark is very aware of it. … And I love that there’s been a lot of time in between. But it’s also nervewracking because there’s a lot of buildup. But no matter what, I think it will be very nostalgic and in the true manner of the voice and the feeling of that movie. It’ll just be us… We’ll be there…
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