(Updated 10/08/2022)
Surely you’ve heard "Silent Night." It’s the Christmas carol people whip out whenever it’s time for Christmas celebrations to get serious. It’s somber, slow, and impossible to dance to. If you’re going to make an action film about Christmas, you probably wouldn’t want to call it SILENT NIGHT. Silence indicates a lack of gunfire, quips, or explosions. It makes sense for a drama or even a horror film, but not for action.
No, for action, SILENT NIGHT just won’t do. It’s going to have to be a VIOLENT NIGHT instead. And that’s exactly what you’re going to get in theaters this Christmas. What more do you need to know about VIOLENT NIGHT? Tune in and find out!
When Does Violent Night Come Out?
How funny would it be if they released a movie that was explicitly about Christmas during the summer? That sort of thing has happened before (it worked for DIE HARD), but VIOLENT NIGHT isn’t falling for it. This is a Christmas movie and it’s getting a Christmas release date: December 2.
That makes it a Christmas movie you can see and have fun with while building up toward the big day. It’s not the kind of thing you bring the whole family to after opening presents and filling yourselves with wholesome vibes. There will be other movies for that. This is for when you just want to have a great time while out shopping for presents. It’s a perfect release date for a film like VIOLENT NIGHT.
Yes, at first this trailer almost plays like a skit from "SNL" or an action movie parody. The quips! The violence! The raindeer poop! But there is clearly a serious action-movie spirit here, too — not to mention a version of Santa Claus that could easily be in the running to show up on our own Nice List. (That would be our Favorite Movie Santas.)
What Is Violent Night About?
Here is where the film really sings. It has a perfect action movie premise.
Imagine a well-to-do family, gathered together to enjoy Christmas Eve. Sure, some of them don't get along, but that’s family. We all have to deal with various dramas come Christmas time. It doesn’t mean we don’t still love each other.
Now imagine this family’s Christmas celebration is interrupted in the rudest way possible: An attack by a group of mercenaries. That sort of thing will ruin the Christmas spirit every time. But there is hope that Christmas will be saved after all! Santa himself appears to punish the mercenaries and save the day. There simply aren’t enough movies that feature Santa Claus wielding a machine gun. VIOLENT NIGHT aims to fix that.
And not even a Santa Claus performer! (Which is what we originally thought.) This is the real deal. So there you have it. A kidnapped family, a bunch of bad guys, and Jolly Old St. Nick primed and ready to beat evil-doers over the head with a stocking full of coal. What could possibly be better than that?
Who Is In Violent Night?
A film like this needs a great cast, but more than anything, it needs a great Santa. Luckily, it has one in the form of David Harbour ("Stranger Things" and BLACK WIDOW). With his big build and uber-dad personality, it’s kind of the part he was born to play.
But the supporting cast is great as well. The film will feature John Leguizamo (JOHN WICK), Beverly D’Angelo (NATIONAL LAMPOON’S CHRISTMAS VACATION), and Edi Patterson ("The Righteous Gemstones").
Who Made Violent Night?
VIOLENT NIGHT comes to us from Tommy Wirkola, director of DEAD SNOW and HANSEL & GRETEL: WITCH HUNTERS. It was written by Pat Casey and Josh Miller, writers of the SONIC THE HEDGEHOG movies.
VIOLENT NIGHT opens on December 2.
All images courtesy of Universal Pictures.