Anna Kendrick has occasionally participated in dramatic projects, like with Cake and The Accountant, but she's primarily known as one of Hollywood's most notable comedic actresses. Although her appearances are usually in the PG-13 and R-rated realms, she's delved into kid-friendly territory before with her voice work in Trolls. It looks like she may be continuing down that kind of path, as Disney has her in mind to play the female version of Santa Claus in an upcoming holiday movie.
Penned by Miss Congeniality writer Marc Lawrence, Variety reports that this movie, which has the running title Nicole (a twist on Saint Nicholas), would see Kendrick playing Santa Claus' daughter, who "takes over the family business" after her dad retires and her brother gets cold feet with the job before he's supposed to take off on Christmas Eve. Lawrence is expected to direct the movie, Susanne Todd is attached as a producer and Louie Provost will oversee the project for Disney.
Santa Claus has been a beloved cultural figure for almost 200 years, meaning that movies involving or about him have been around since movie-making was created. It's difficult to come up with a completely original idea for the jolly red-suited man who flies around the world in one night to deliver presents to kids, and that includes others taken up the mantle, whether it's someone random, like in the Santa Clause movies, or part of the family, like Arthur Christmas. There's even been a female Santa Claus before, played by Whoopi Goldberg in the 2001 TV movie Call Me Claus. So yes, Nicole's premise isn't entirely brand-new. Still, the story does sound interesting, and with Anna Kendrick as the lead and and this story coming from Disney, you can guarantee that it would catch a lot of people's attentions. Now I'm curious about who would play this woman's father and brother.
The currently-titled Nicole isn't the only Santa Claus-centric movie Disney has in the works. Dashing Through the Snow is also in development, which will see Kevin Hart playing Santa Claus in a story about a workaholic father who's trying to repair his relationship with his son. As for Anna Kendrick, she will reprise her role as Beca Mitchell in Pitch Perfect 3 later this year. However, if she's able to work out a deal with Disney, Nicole would be an excellent opportunity for Kendrick to become more recognizable to younger moviegoers, as some may not know her just by her voice.
We'll keep you apprised of how Nicole is progressing as more updates come in, but for now, let us know what you think about a movie starring Anna Kendrick taking over Santa Claus duties in the comments below.
