The very first trailer for Violent Night has dropped, and it revealed Stranger Things star David Harbour serving up “seasons beatings” as Santa Claus. In the film, Harbour plays Ol’ Saint Nick, who is just minding his own business and magically traveling the world to bring gifts and joy to families around the world, on Christmas Eve night. However, when he winds up in the home of a wealthy family being robbed by dozens of armed criminals, Father Christmas has to put down the milk and cookies and pick up a sledgehammer. Literally.
An official synopsis of the film reads: “To hell with ‘all is calm.’ From 87North, the bare-knuckle producers of , John Wick, Atomic Blonde, Deadpool 2, Bullet Train and Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw comes a coal-dark holiday action-comedy that says you should always bet on red. When a team of mercenaries breaks into a wealthy family compound on Christmas Eve, taking everyone inside hostage, the team isn’t prepared for a surprise combatant: Santa Claus (David Harbour, Black Widow, Stranger Things series) is on the grounds, and he’s about to show why this Nick is no saint.”
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Back in April, Harbour attended CinemaCon and teased the Caesar’s Palace crowd about the new film. “Who doesn’t love a great action movie, right?” he asked the audience, as reported by Variety. “How about Christmas movies? So, what about a movie that’s a great action movie and the greatest Christmas movie in one? Die Hard. F—ing Die Hard. Now what if… wait a minute, wait a minute. What if kickass director Tommy Wirkola and the badass producers at 87North, you know, the maniacs who did Atomic Blonde and John Wick and ‘Nobody’ and ‘Hobbs [&] Shaw,’ were behind it all? And, wait a minute, what if I starred in it as f—ing Santa Claus?”
In addition to Harbour, Violent Night also stars John Leguizamo (John Wick), Cam Gigandet (Without Remorse), Alex Hassell (Cowboy Bebop), Alexis Louder (The Tomorrow War), Edi Patterson (The Righteous Gemstones), and Beverly D’Angelo (National Lampoon’s Vacation). The is directed by Wirkola (Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters), from an original screenplay by Pat Casey & Josh Miller, the pair behind .
Finally, as Harbour mentioned, Violent Night is produced by 87North’s Kelly McCormick, David Leitch, and Guy Danella, and executive produced by Marc S. Fischer. It will have its world premiere at the New York Comic Con on Oct. 7, 2022. The film will later be released to theaters in the United States on Dec. 2, by Universal Pictures.
