After movies like Violent Night, Fat Man, Red One and even with a Violent Night sequel on the way, you’d think Santa movies with an action twist had probably reached its critical mass. However, the action icon, Arnold Schwarzenegger, now suits up to play Kris Kringle for the comedy The Man With the Bag, which also features another muscular action star, Alan Ritchson. The concept is similar to Red One, except this time, Santa loses his bag of presents and enlists the help of a former thief to get it back.
Amazon MGM Studios has premiered the first trailer for The Man with the Bag and it almost feels like a parody trailer. Arnold is possibly the jolliest he’s ever been in a movie with an amusing smile on his face seemingly the whole time. Bonus points for the throwback trailer narrator, though!
Schwarzenegger and Ritchson are joined in the cast by Berkeley James, Michael Cyril Creighton, Liza Koshy, Kyle Mooney, Jane Krakowski, with Ken Jeong and Awkwafina.
The official synopsis reads,
“When Santa’s (Schwarzenegger) iconic red bag is stolen by a rogue elf with a grudge (Awkwafina), Christmas is suddenly at risk. With his biggest night of the year fast-approaching, Santa recruits a thief (Ritchson) from his ‘Naughty List’ who quickly assembles a crew of criminally skilled misfits — with a little help from elves and reindeer — to pull off the most unexpected heist of their lives.”
Adam Shankman, whose resume includes Bringing Down the House, A Walk to Remember and Stop! That! Train!, sits in the director’s seat for this film with Allan Rice penning the script. Meanwhile, producers on the movie include Lawrence Grey, Ben Everard, Reg Tigerman, Dan Spilo and Alan Ritchson.
A couple of years ago, Arnold posted a first look of the film with him as Santa and Alan Ritchson. His photo included the caption, “Santa Claus is coming to town! It is fantastic to be shooting The Man with the Bag with @alanritchson. Our director @adamshankman is one of the funniest directors I’ve worked with, New York City is an amazing host, working with @amazonmgmstudios is a joy, and I can’t wait to share all of this Christmas cheer with each and every one of you.”
The Man with the Bag arrives on Prime Video on December 2.