Kevin Hart isn't the first person that you think of when it comes to Santa Claus, but that is all going to change if the actor has his way. That's because the diminutive funny-man is currently in discussions to star as Santa Claus in Dashing Through The Snow.
Described as a family Christmas comedy, the tone of Dashing Through The Snow has already been compared to Liar Liar and Elf. According to The Hollywood Reporter, it revolves around a New York City detective who is a workaholic, and as such has developed a strained relationship with his son. The only person who can repair their problems is Santa Claus, whose job it will be to make the father believe in the magic of Christmas.
At the moment, Kevin Hart is the only actor attached to Dashing Through The Snow. He was originally brought on board the project by producer Will Packer, who the actor previously worked with on both Ride Along and Ride Along 2. Will Packer is producing Dashing Through The Snow alongside John Jacobs (Ted), while Kristin Burr is overseeing it for Disney.
The original gem of the idea for Dashing Through The Snow was devised by Scott Rosenberg, who most recently provided the script for Jumanji, which just so happens to star Kevin Hart. Rosenberg's CV is rather eclectic, having written Con Air, Gone In 60 Seconds, Things To Do In Denver When You're Dead, High Fidelity, Kangaroo Jack and Pain & Gain, while he also did uncredited rewrite work on both Armageddon and Spider-Man.
However, despite coming up with Dashing Through The Snow, and writing the first draft, Rob Burnett is currently scribing the latest. Burnett previously worked in television as the head writer for The Late Show with David Letterman, while he most recently oversaw the Netflix feature-length dramedy _The Fundamentals Of Caring. _
The addition of Kevin Hart to Dashing Through The Snow suggests that the comedy will avoid being dragged down into the mires of development hell, and will actually see the light of day. That's as long as Kevin Hart can find the time to actually shoot the comedy, because, as you might have noticed, the actor has a rather hectic schedule.
Over the last 2 years Kevin Hart has taken lead roles in The Wedding Ringer, Get Hard, Ride Along 2, Central Intelligence, The Secret Life Of Pets, as well as shooting two seasons of Real Husbands Of Hollywood and embarking on a comedy tour, which was even released as its own comedy concert film, Kevin Hart: What Now? That's not all, too, because Kevin Hart is currently in various stages of production on Jumanji and Captain Underpants, while Ride Along 3 has already been confirmed, too.
It's safe to assume that Dashing Through The Snow will get a Christmas release date. Still, considering Kevin Hart's schedule, we might have to wait until Christmas 2018, rather than the festive season of 2017, to see his outing as Santa Claus. Where it will go up against the Emily Blunt and Lin-Manuel Miranda-led Mary Poppins Returns?
