‘A California Christmas’ Sequel Coming to Netflix

The Christmas spirit continues at Netflix! The streaming platform revealed today that their hit holiday film A California Christmas is officially getting a sequel, Variety reports. The second movie will be titled California Christmas: City Lights and will begin filming around California early next year.

California Christmas: City Lights comes from ESX Entertainment, the production company behind the first film, and will bring back original stars (and married couple) Lauren and Josh Swickard, who met on the set of another ESX movie, a romance titled Roped, in 2017.

While Netflix doesn’t provide specific stats, California Christmas has remained in the streamer’s Top 10 list for a while now, attracting viewers since its Dec. 14 premiere. The holiday romance follows Callie (Lauren Swickard), a farm owner who is trying to keep her business alive, and Joseph (Josh Swickard), a slick businessman posing as a ranch hand and hoping to buy Callie’s land off of her.

In her California Christmas review, Decider’s Anna Menta called the film “a classic fish-out-of-water romantic comedy” that delivers the same comforting story Hallmark movie fans will lovingly recognize. “The Swickards have plenty of chemistry, which is a promising sign for their IRL marriage. The plot is simple, familiar, and clichéd, but in a welcome, comforting way,” she wrote, adding, “If you decide to click on A California Christmas based on the title, font, poster, and Netflix description, then you probably know what you’re getting yourself into. You won’t be disappointed.”

The second California Christmas movie will also feature Leo (Afshar), Manny (David Del Rio) and more. According to Variety, the new movie follows Lauren Swickard’s character, Cassie, as she gets acclimated to her new beau Joseph’s socialite high life. California Christmas: City Lights is written by Lauren Swickard, who also wrote the first film, and directed by Shaun Piccinino, with California Christmas producer Daniel Aspromonte returning.

Stream A California Christmas on Netflix