David Harbor is boosting his resume as a badass in the first trailer for “Violent Night,” a holiday thriller that features the “Stranger Things” star as Santa Claus.
Directed by Norwegian filmmaker Tommy Wirkola, Harbor plays a grayer, more regretful version of Kris Kringle, who is anything but cheerful in the trailer. On Christmas Eve, (Not-So) Saint Nick comes across a family being held hostage by a team of mercenaries and is forced to take matters into his own hands.
Director: Tommy Wirkola
Writers: Pat Casey, Josh Miller
Stars: David Harbour, Beverly D'Angelo, John Leguizamo
The premiere is shown days after the release of the first trailer for the film. The film comes from the mind of director Tommy Wirkola, the premise is that a group of mercenaries break into a family's home on Christmas and have to face the wrath of none other than Santa Claus. Harbor plays this holly, jolly and deadly version of Saint Nicholas in the Christmas tale.
As attendees filed in, they were handed out bloody-looking Santa hats and treated to Christmas carols and music from a live choir, the New York Holiday Singers, dressed for Christmas. The panel takes place on the Javits Center's Empire Stage, with many heads of the crowd donning their new Santa hats to create a sea of white and red in the room.
Harbor joins an ensemble that includes Cam Gigandet, Beverly D'Angelo and John Leguizamo. The screenplay was written by Pat Casey and Josh Miller, who previously wrote the first and second live-action "Sonic the Hedgehog" movies.
An exclusive screening of “Violent Night” will be shown to an audience at New York Comic Con on October 7, nearly two months before the film's release. Harbor first teased the project at CinemaCon in April, where the actor spoke to a packed house at Caesar's Palace.
"Who doesn't love a great action movie, right?" Harbor asked the crowd of convention attendees for Syfy. “What about Christmas movies? So what about a movie that's a great action movie and the best Christmas movie rolled into one? 'Die Hard'. F***ing 'Die Hard'. Now, what if... wait a minute, wait a minute? What if genius director Tommy Wirkola and the badass producers at 87North, you know, the maniacs who made 'Atomic Blonde' and 'John Wick' and 'Nobody' and 'Hobbs[&] Shaw', were behind it all? And, wait a minute, what if I starred as the fucking Santa Claus?
“Violent Night” hits theaters on December 2, kicking off the holiday season with joy and bloodshed.