MJF has another film credit, and this one arrives in theaters five weeks before Christmas.
Universal Pictures released the first trailer for Violent Night 2 on Tuesday. MJF is in the cast, credited under his real name, Maxwell Friedman.
David Harbour returns as Santa Claus. The sequel puts him on the naughty list, stripped of his magic and stranded in a crumbling New Jersey mall, where he takes on a crime lord and his crew running the merchants of the Silver Bell Mall. Jared Harris plays the gangster. Kristen Bell debuts as Mrs. Claus, and the trailer makes clear she fights.
The rest of the cast is Joe Pantoliano, Daniela Melchior and Andrew Bachelor. Tommy Wirkola returns to direct, with Pat Casey and Josh Miller writing again. Kelly McCormick and David Leitch produce through 87North, the company behind John Wick, Bullet Train and Nobody. Universal distributes.
It opens December 4 and is rated R for strong bloody violence and language. The 2022 original made around $76 million against a $20 million budget.
This is Friedman’s third notable screen credit. He played Lance Von Erich in The Iron Claw and appeared in Happy Gilmore 2 last year.
The timing works for him. He lost the AEW World Championship to Kenny Omega at Dynamite Beach Break in July and has not wrestled since, an absence Tony Khan addressed around Redemption.
