Disney has had a truly staggering amount of success over the last year at the box office and interestingly enough, a lot of that still has to do with their original movies. Despite having massive franchises like the Marvel Cinematic Universe andStar Wars, their original movies likeZootopiastill do very well. So, why not do an original Christmas movie withAnna Kendrick? It looks like that may be the plan and what’s more is that the 31-year-old actress would actually be playingSanta Claus.
According to a report fromVariety, Disney is eyeingAnna Kendrickfor a currentlyUntitled Disney Female Santa Claus Moviethat would see her taking on the role of St. Nick. The movie has a working title ofNicole, which seems fitting based on the description, but that title hasn’t been finalized. Here is how Variety is describing the movie.
“Currently going by the running title “Nicole,” the story revolves Santa’s daughter who is forced to take over the family business when her father decides to retire and brother ends up getting cold feet prior to his first bigChristmas Eveflight.”
The movie was written byMarc Lawrence, who is probably best known for his work on theMiss Congenialitymovies. The report notes that, should the project actually come together, he would also direct. His last directorial effort wasThe Rewritein 2014 which he also wrote and sawHugh Grantstarring, but that movie didn’t really crossover into the mainstream. As a director, he hasn’t really had a breakout hit but he has definitely had success as a screenwriter. With Disney behindNicoleand with a star likeAnna Kendrick, this could be his chance to change that.
As forAnna Kendrick, she is certainly keeping busy even without the responsibility of having to deliver gifts to kids all around the world. She is currently filmingPitch Perfect 3, which has been a very profitable franchise up to this point and helped cement her as a bankable star. She kept really busy in 2016, starring in a couple of smaller movies withGet a JobandThe Hollars, but she also was in the limelight quite a bit. She starred in theR-rated comedyMike and Dave Need Wedding Dates oppositeAubrey Plazaas well as providing a voice for the animatedTrollsmovie and she was the female lead in theBen AffleckthrillerThe Accountant.
2016 really only hadOffice Christmas Partyto offer in terms of holiday movies, so something like this could fill a gap that perceivably exists. Disney certainly made their money during the holiday season, though, withRogue One: A Star Wars Storydominating the last couple of weeks last year. That said, they could drop something like the tentatively titledNicolein November and potentially have a movie that could rake in money over the course of several weeks right through Christmas without getting in the way ofStar Wars, since it seems like they are pretty set on putting those movies out in December from now on. There is no word on when Disney would want to release the movie, but 2017 seems like a bit of a stretch, so it seems like a safe bet they would plan to get it ready for Christmas 2018.
