If you have been treating Thanksgiving 2 like a canceled turkey, Eli Roth is saying the opposite. The sequel is still alive, the Jeff Rendell draft is close enough that Roth wants one last pass, and the real blocker is not studio cold feet. It is calendar math for a cast that got busy after 2023.
Script status, in Roth's words
Roth has been promoting Ice Cream Man, his August 7 horror release under The Horror Section, and used that press cycle to reset expectations on the Plymouth sequel. He and Rendell, who wrote the first Thanksgiving, are nearly done. The next move is a final script pass after Ice Cream Man lands, then scheduling.
I'm gonna sit down with Jeff Rendell after the release of Ice Cream Man. We're just gonna go through one last pass of the script. And then I'm gonna basically have the movie locked and loaded and figure out how we do this.
Roth also framed the delay in blunt production terms: the group cannot recreate the first film's four-week everyone-in-the-room block, so scenes may be split around who can show up when.
It's just really a question of trying to figure out how we can shoot this movie and scheduling everybody, because everybody's just so busy.
What that means for fans waiting on a date
Confirmed enough to stop doomposting: - Thanksgiving 2 remains in active development talk from Roth - Script work with Rendell is late-stage, not a blank page - Roth's sequencing puts a final polish after Ice Cream Man's Aug 7, 2026 theatrical run
Not confirmed: - A studio release date, or any return to the old 2025 target - Final cast deal memos for every returning face - Whether the shoot will be one continuous block or a staggered "shoot you out in three days" plan
Roth has separately said the cast wants to return and that he loves them as collaborators. Treat that as intent, not a locked call sheet, until production lists names again.
Why Ice Cream Man is on this timeline
Ice Cream Man is not a Thanksgiving spinoff. It is Roth's next theater date, and he is using it as the checkpoint before locking Thanksgiving 2. The green-band trailer from The Horror Section is already public if you want the current Roth flavor while Plymouth waits.
Where to watch the first film while you wait
Thanksgiving (2023) is available to stream on Hulu and Disney+. Rewatch for the survivors and the John Carver mythos before any sequel spoiler cycle starts. For more horror sequel status checks, follow the movies feed and the Thanksgiving hub as dates firm up.