Frank Capra’s It’s A Wonderful Life is probably one of the most beloved films of all time, airing every single year on NBC around Christmastime. For some in today’s general audiences, it’s a rare black & white film that everyone can enjoy, from the film geek to the youngest member of the family. There is no reason to remake it or come up with a sequel, or so many fans have believed. It turns out that producers Star Partners and Hummingbird Productions want to make a sequel for 2015.
Variety reported today that the holiday classic is getting a sequel titled It’s A Wonderful Life: The Rest of the Story, because apparently unknown to all of us, the film did not end with “The End.” Star Partners’ Allen J. Schwalb and Hummingbird’s Bob Farnsworth are hoping to get their sequel out by the 2015 holiday season.
The two have managed to bring in one cast member from the original film: Karolyn Grimes. She played “Zuzu,” the youngest Bailey child, and had the distinction of getting to say “Every time a bell rings, an angel gets his wings!” at the end of the film. She will show up as an angel for George Bailey’s unlikable grandson.
“The storyline of the new film retains the spirit of the original – every life is important as long as you have friends,” Farnsworth, who co-wrote the sequel, told Variety. He wrote with Martha Bolton.
No one has been cast to play the grandson, but the producers are talking with other surviving members of the original cast, Jimmy Hawkins and Janie Bailey. The search for a director is also on.
Filming will take place in Louisiana and the budget will be between $25 million and $35 million.
“The new film will retain the feeling of the original, and it simply must be shared,” Grimes told Variety. She said that she’s been looking at It’s A Wonderful Life sequel screenplays for 20 years, but she was most impressed by Farnsworth and Bolton’s. “The script by Bob Farnsworth and Martha Bolton was wonderful, and I wanted to be involved with his version of the film immediately,” she said.
It’s A Wonderful Life wasn’t an immediate success in 1946, but has gone on to become a family classic thanks to the annual television airings on NBC. The original film was the first for James Stewart after World War II and co-starred Donna Reed.