A ‘Screamboat’ Sequel is in the Works!!

Steamboat Willie is ready to kill again, and this time, he’s bringing his partner. A sequel to the horror-comedy public domain slasher flick Screamboat, based on the black-and-white Disney classic, has officially been announced, with director Steven LaMorte returning to the helm. No plot details are known for certain at this time, since development isn’t to begin until 2026, but the film will unite the precursor to Mickey Mouse with his love interest, Minnie, whose earliest appearances also entered the public domain back in 2024. Although there’s been no formal confirmation, most of the first film’s cast is expected to reprise their roles, including Terrifier‘s David Howard Thornton as the murderous Willie.

“I’m thrilled to announce the sequel to our bloody horror comedy,” LaMorte‘s official statement about the sequel read. “We had so much fun bringing these iconic characters to life with a bloody twist, and I look forward to returning to the world of Screamboat to create even more miniature murder and mayhem.” The formal introduction of Minnie is a continuation of where the first film’s cliffhanger ending left off. After being teased during the runtime as the other mouse born out of the experiments of mad scientists, she finally appears aboard the trash barge Willie ends up on in the closing moments of Screamboat, setting up a horrific return for the animated couple. In a press release, the team promised that her arrival would build on the ethos of the original feature “with even more outrageous set pieces and gruesome comedy.”

The first Screamboat didn’t win much favor with critics upon its release, as indicated by a 51% score on Rotten Tomatoes. Collider‘s Ross Bonaime concurred, praising Thornton‘s off-the-wall comedic performance but ultimately giving the film a 3/10 in his review and saying, “Screamboat goes for the bare necessities and lets all its possibilities go.” However, it did come away from the Fangoria Chainsaw Awards on October 19 with the Best Public Domain Resurrection honor, and audiences have been far kinder to it with a respectable 79% score on the review aggregator. There should be plenty of viewers willing to see the mutant mice terrorize New Yorkers once more after Willie’s first reign of terror, starring Thornton, Allison Pittel, Amy Schumacher, Jesse Posey, Kailey Hyman, Jesse Kove, and Jarlath Conroy.

‘Screamboat 2’ Is Far From the Only Big Public Domain Flick on the Horizon

With more and more iconic fictional characters, particularly from the House of Mouse, entering the public domain, twisted takes on the beloved icons have skyrocketed in popularity in recent years. The biggest purveyor of these horror movies of late has been Rhys Frake-Waterfield‘s Twisted Childhood Universe, uniting everyone from Winnie-the-Pooh to Bambi under one common banner of bloody frights. This year alone, the TCU has seen the additions of Peter Pan’s Neverland Nightmare and Bambi: The Reckoning to the fold, with Pinocchio: Unstrung next up on the docket, and featuring two horror veterans in Robert Englund as the Cricket and Richard Brake as Geppetto. As Screamboat 2 takes shape, so, too, is the public domain franchise expanding further with Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey 3 adding writer Richard Stanley and the big crossover film, Poohniverse: Monsters Assemble, filming next year.