Somehow, the holiday season is quickly approaching. I swear it was March just last week. Despite the quick and unending march of time, I’m always down for some quality holiday movies during the season, and THR has reported that Samara Weaving has joined Jennifer Aniston in Naughty, a holiday comedy set to be directed by Olivia Wilde.
Naughty
The story, written as a spec script by Jimmy Warden, centers on a mother (Aniston) whose only hope of securing custody of her son from her gaslighting trash-bag ex is to find Santa Claus and convince him to testify at her divorce hearing. It’s been described as “Bridesmaids in the North Pole.” It sounds like fun. I’m down, but it’s been a while since any modern holiday movie has entered my annual watch.
The rest of the cast includes Peter Dinklage as Santa Claus and Ike Barinholtz as the ex, with Chase Sui Wonders and Regina Hall playing the best friends of Aniston’s character.
Weaving will play the mistress of Barinholtz’s character.
Universal has already slated the film for a November 5, 2027 release.
The Invite
Wilde’s last directorial outing was The Invite, a sex comedy/drama which follows a bickering married couple (Seth Rogen and Olivia Wilde) who invite their new neighbours (Edward Norton and Penelope Cruz) over for a low-key dinner, only for it to devolve into a night of revelations that may end their fragile union for good.
The film debuted at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year and was released by A24 over the summer. Our own Chris Bumbray found a lot to like, equal parts hilarious and poignant.
“The film makes a practical point about how relationships evolve, and how taking your partner for granted is poison for any marriage. Anyone who’s been in a long-term relationship and watched it slowly unravel will no doubt relate,” he wrote. “That said, The Invite is also genuinely hilarious, especially once the topic of sexuality is broached. Wilde gets a lot of comic mileage out of Joe and Angela’s curiosity and Hawk and Pina’s complete lack of filter. She keeps the laughs coming at a brisk pace, with the 107-minute running time flying by. Yet it’s not all bawdy humor—there’s real emotional catharsis here too.“
You can check out the rest of his review right here.
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