What happens when Santa gets angry? Violent Night (original title: Violent Night) is the bold answer from the producer of the action series Nobody and Bullet Train?
New story about Santa Claus
The Night of the Dead begins when a group of mercenaries break into the wealthy Lightstone family’s mansion on Christmas Eve. Planned to take all members of the family hostage, they accidentally encounter an unexpected opponent: Santa Claus (David Harbor of Black Widow and the Stranger Things series). This is a very different Santa from the usual, unafraid of violence and extremely rich in fighting spirit.
Producer David Leitch said: “When I heard the somewhat crazy Christmas story about Santa Claus going to rescue a family being held hostage, I immediately thought, ‘Oh, What a brilliant idea.” Bold and somewhat irreverent, above all, this story contains an interesting moral story at the end.” Producers loved the idea of a movie that was in the spirit of the holiday season but still had the full potential of an action movie with breathtaking confrontations. Universal gave the green light after receiving the first draft of the script, so the production of Deadly Night was quickly launched.
Not only a simple action movie, the work is also a series of black comedy episodes for the audience to relax after nervously watching Santa in the sleepless night.
Coming from the team that used to “sponsor” for the hit action series
Deadly Night is produced by 87North Productions – the company that provides the action for Bullet Train, Nobody, John Wick, Atomic Blonde, Deadpool 2 and Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw. Co-founded by Kelly McCormick and David Leitch, 87North is associated with daring action movies revolving around realistically built characters and giving audiences heartfelt emotions.
So, when they received an urgent call from the management of the scriptwriter duo Josh Miller and Pat Casey about an R-rated movie filled with unique action scenes but still enough to touch the heart. viewers, McCormick and Leitch were feeling extremely excited. Deadly Nights is directed by Norwegian filmmaker Tommy Wirkola (Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters, Dead Snow series).
The expert coordinator of the adventure scenes of the Dark Night is Jonathan “Jojo” Eusebio – a filmmaker who previously collaborated with 87North on a series of projects that this studio produces, including the John series. Wick. “Jojo was one of the first members of our filming crew, which means we’ve been working together for the past 20 years.” Producer David Leitch shared. “Not only talented, North87 filmmakers always keep an ethical principle in their work and ambition to make good movies, and so does Jojo. I love and admire what he has been doing, both with projects with North87 and others.”
In the formula to help create success for 87North, there must be a team of action stunts that are rated as top quality in the world of cinema. “Jojo always looks forward to taking on challenges. He’s recruited members who are both athletic and have incredible skills, and I think they’ve all learned a lot about how to incorporate humor into action sequences. intense.” Director Wirkola said.
The veteran face plays Santa
Finding the right actor to play Santa is extremely important. “That actor must have exuded something of a mystery because the Santa of Cruel Nights is a man with a complicated inner world.” Wirkola reviews. “Not only did he have to perform dramatic action sequences, but he also showed a wide range of emotions. David Harbor is the first person we think of because he meets all of those criteria.”
Famous for his Stranger Things series and his role as Red Guardian in Black Widow, David Harbor is currently a sought-after star in Hollywood. The roles of this actor impress the audience thanks to his masculinity, strength or even grumpy but also emotional at the same time. Harbor’s efforts to deeply portray Santa’s past have helped audiences understand and empathize with this character. “When he first appeared in the movie, Santa was a difficult person and seemed to be tired of the Christmas seasons. But deep inside, it was a man with a broken heart. After ten thousand years of giving away toys, he has created a horrible commercial world, where children keep wanting more, more and more.”
David Harbor had intensive training exercises with an extremely serious spirit for this role to be able to perform long scenes and difficult movements – which can hardly be done safely without standards. be thorough.
Introduced by producer David Leich. “When Santa Claus hit the house, and the little girl there still believed in Christmas, believed in Santa Claus, and at the same time saw the difficult situation, he decided to help. The little girl tries to help Santa get back in the Christmas spirit. That made it easier for the character to win the hearts of many viewers, and that was David’s idea.”