Christmas is one of the most celebrated holidays and it is often marked all over the world with flashy decorative lights and exchange of gifts between friends and loved ones. The yuletide season is characterized by hope, love, and joy and is usually a great time for all sorts of businesses – from crime to sales, whatever you can think of is multiplied during Christmas. Hollywood producers are also not left out of this “promo” period as there is usually a ton of Christmas-themed TV series and movies released around this period. One of such is the 2018 Netflix original movie, The Christmas Chronicles which was produced by the award-winning American producer Scott Rudin and it had Michael Barnathan as its executive producer.
Is The Christmas Chronicles A Series?
The Christmas Chronicles which starred Hollywood star actors such as , , Darby Camp,, , and Martin Roach among others, premiered on Netflix on 22nd November 2018. Although the movie received an unimpressive average rating from film critics, it was able to record a rather impressive 20 million streams within the first week of its release which would translate into an estimate of about $200 million in just the opening week.
It would also interest you to know that The Christmas Chronicles is not a series as it has been rumored to be, there is however going to be a sequel. It is gathered that the anticipated sequel would have one of its producers, Chris Columbus in the director’s seat this time and the actor, Kurt Russell would be retained as Santa Claus. This second installment is set to start filming in September 2019.
What Exactly Is The Movie About?
The 104-minute long movie is a story about two siblings – Teddy and Kate Pierce – portrayed by Judah Lewis and Darby Camp respectively, who almost scrapped out Christmas celebration because of the loss of their firefighter dad Doug (played by Oliver Hudson). They devise a plot to catch Santa on Christmas eve but their plan eventually metamorphosed into an exciting adventure.
Prior to the above, the Pierce family of four who lived in Lowell, Massachusetts cherished their family tradition of celebrating Christmas until the year 2018 when Doug, who was a firefighter, died in the line of duty. Claire (portrayed by Kimberly Williams-Paisley) happens to be Doug’s widow who took on the responsibility of taking care of their two kids. She struggled to hold the family together but this was not an easy feat, especially when her son, 16-year old Teddy (played by Judah Lewis) started stealing cars. However, Claire’s daughter, 11-year-old Kate (portrayed by Darby Camp) tried to keep the Christmas spirit alive in their household which formed the major theme in The Christmas Chronicles.
As fate may have it, Claire had to go to work on the Christmas Eve of 2018, leaving Teddy to babysit his sister. Kate noticed an unusual arm emerge from the fireplace while watching an old Christmas movie, convinced the arm belonged to Santa Claus, she asked her brother to help her prove that Santa exists. Teddy was initially against her idea but he succumbed to her bidding after she showed him a clip of his car theft in the past.
As scenes unfold in The Christmas Chronicles, the duo set up a wire linked to a Christmas bell and put a camera in place, hoping the wire would trip when Santa arrives and the incident would be caught on camera. Kate is awakened by the bell to find Santa Claus (played by Kurt Russell) in their living room, but he left before Teddy could get a glance. They heard him moving on their rooftop when they stepped out, they could see Santa’s sleigh and reindeer hovering above them. Kate chose to follow Santa and Teddy, despite his initial objection, followed her and they both hid in his sleigh. Unknown to the big man in red and white, he left with them in tow.
When Kate abruptly came out of her hiding place, she took Santa by surprise and this caused a commotion which resulted in Santa losing grip on the sleigh and the turbulence made him lose the gifts. Other interesting events followed suit and Santa even colluded with the kids for which he was nabbed by the police. Things got a lot more exciting in The Christmas Chronicles as the kids had to work with the elves in order to get Santa released and keep the Christmas spirit alive which they were able to achieve at the last minute and Teddy was once again made a true believer in the magic of Christmas.
Other Facts About The Christmas Chronicles
1. The super hit film was shot in cities like Toronto, Mexico City, San Francisco, Chicago, and Lowell.
2. Upon its release, The Christmas Chronicles was translated into four languages – English, Spanish, French and, Romanian.
3. It is interesting to know that the role of Mrs. Claus was played by Kurt Russell’s real-life partner, .
4. Some of the actors in The Christmas Chronicles have worked together in other movies – Kimberly Williams-Paisley and worked together in a number of episodes of Nashville.
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