Kristen Wiig, Sally Hawkins and Maggie Smith are among the cast to have joined the live-action, holiday family film “A Boy Called Christmas,” Netflix, Studiocanal and Blueprint Pictures announced Monday.
Production is now underway on the film from Studiocanal, Netflix and Blueprint Pictures based on the 2015 book by Matt Haig.
The full cast for the film includes Jim Broadbent, Zoey Colletti, Toby Jones, Michiel Huisman, Henry Lawfull, Rume Temte, Indica Watson along with Wiig, Hawkins and Smith.
“A Boy Called Christmas” is the origin story of Father Christmas, about a boy named Nikolas who travels to the North Pole to rescue his father, only to befriend elves, a surly reindeer, a troll and uncover a magical, frozen village called Elfhelm.
Gil Kenan (“Monster House”) is directing the film from a screenplay he co-wrote with Ol Parker. “A Boy Called Christmas” is the first of five books from Haig and published by Canongate Books, with the first illustrated by Chris Mould.
Production on the film is now underway and will shoot in Lapland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, and London.
Studiocanal is producing with Graham Broadbent and Pete Czernin is producing for Blueprint Pictures. Netflix is releasing domestically, with Studiocanal releasing in the UK and other select international territories.