Director Tommy Wirkola's new Christmas action comedy Violent Night presents a decidedly darker take on St. Nick. Here's what we know so far.

A new action-comedy Christmas movie is officially in the works. Violent Night, from Norwegian director Tommy Wirkola, is set to hit theaters this holiday season.

87North Productions, the company behind last year’s Bob Odenkirk-led thriller Nobody, is on board to produce, while Universal Pictures is set to distribute. Director Wirkola is best known for blending action and comedy with horror in his native Norway. His films include Kill Buljo, a Kill Bill parody, and the Dead Snow series, where students face off against re-animated World War II Nazi zombies. Wirkola’s best-known and first English language film was 2013’s Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters. Now, it seems that he is putting his signature gritty style on another iconic genre, the Christmas film.

Stranger Things’ David Harbour is lined up in the lead role of Santa Claus, in a role as far from Jim Hopper as possible. Harbour’s take on St. Nick will reportedly be anything but jolly. Keeping that in mind, what do we know about Tommy Wirkola’s Violent Night? What can we expect from the story? In addition to Harbour, who is in the cast? When and where will the film be released? And what else should audiences know about Violent Night?

The storyline will reportedly center on a group of mercenaries who break into a Succession-esque family’s home on Christmas Eve and hold them hostage, already evoking slightly darker Home Alone vibes. However, the mercenaries are unaware that Santa Claus himself is there, ready to fight back and show that this St. Nick is no saint.

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Additional footage was revealed at CinemaCon in April 2022. Harbour described his role as “f**king Santa Claus” who swings a “motherf**king hammer,” noting that he has to drop f-bombs because of how insane the story is. After the mercenaries break in, a young girl at the home makes a call to Santa for help, who replies with an enigmatic “Santa Claus is coming to town.”

The footage reveals Kris Kringle embracing a grisly, over-the-top violent nature as his elves assist using martial arts. He beats one of the burglars to death using a sock filled with pool balls and kills another by stabbing him in the eyes with an electrified Christmas star. Santa concludes his bloody rampage with the lighthearted iconic line, “I’m jolly old St. Nick.”

Fans of films where John Wick meets Die Hard meets Succession starring Jim Hopper as Santa Claus will want to keep this one on their radar. Additional plot information will likely follow in the coming weeks and months. Though honestly, how could anything make this idea more insane? It’s a “coal-dark holiday thriller that says you should always bet on red.”

As mentioned above, David Harbour is taking on the role of the ultra-violent, revenge-seeking St. Nick. Gritty Santa Claus is not an entirely new concept, though it’s never been done at this level.

Encanto’s John Leguizamo stars as Ben, the leader of the mercenaries and the primary target of Santa’s wrath. Beverly D’Angelo of the National Lampoon’s Vacation franchise is the family’s matriarch, Anne. She makes her children fight for her affection and runs the family corporation with an iron fist. English actor Alex Hassell plays Anne’s son Skyler, who comes for the holidays with his estranged wife, played by The Tomorrow War’s Alexis Louder. The couple has their differences, but they spend the holidays with the family for the sake of their daughter.

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Additional roles will be played by Norsemen’s Andre Eriksen, Knives Out and The Righteous Gemstones’ Edi Patterson, and Without Remorse’s Cam Gigandet. At this time, we have no further details about how their characters may figure into the plot or if they’ll take a brutal beating from Santa. Additional casting announcements should be expected as we approach the release date.

Universal Pictures will release Violent Night in the United States on December 2, 2022.

Gritty Christmas movies are not anything new. Die Hard, anyone? Recently, we’ve seen an increase in these films, such as Krampus and various takes on Black Christmas. These films are different because they usually do not involve supernatural elements. Instead, it’s some all-too-human force ruining the holiday for everyone. In Krampus’ case, St. Nick is definitely not the antagonist when the supernatural is involved.

One of the closest comparisons we can draw to Violent Night is 2003’s Billy Bob Thornton-led Bad Santa, which took a similarly less than family-friendly approach to Kris Kringle. However, that only featured Thornton as a mall Santa, not the real thing. The real Santa Claus exacting ultra-violent revenge isn’t something we’ve seen on screen. You could argue that Santa isn’t the antagonist here because he is taking revenge on home invaders, but that doesn’t make the violence any less jarring.

That combination of elements will likely help Violent Night stand on its own as an enduring Christmas classic (though not for the whole family for years to come).