Melissa McCarthy Is Set to Save Christmas in ‘Margie Claus’
Rejoice, parents: you’ll soon have a new Christmas movie to add to your family’s holiday rotation. If your family was anything like my own, you probably grew tired of placating screaming nieces and nephews with the same ratty DVD copies of A Christmas Story, Elf, or Home Alone. That makes any new holiday movie — regardless of quality — a welcome change of pace. Arthur Christmas? Fine. Rise of the Guardians? It’ll do in a pinch. Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale? Maybe save that one for the time in the evening when the uncles break out the adults-only eggnog. But a Melissa McCarthy Christmas comedy? That could be quite a boon for tired family members everywhere.
According to The Hollywood Reporter (via /Film), McCarthy has signed on to play the title character in Margie Claus, a holiday musical that insiders have compared to Will Ferrell’s Elf in terms of its family friendly tone. In the film, McCarthy — who will plays the wife of Santa Claus — must venture forth from the North Pole for the first time in decades when her husband goes missing on Christmas Eve. Margie Claus will be co-written by Damon Jones, the showrunner on the USA lawyer comedy Benched, and McCarthy’s husband Ben Falcone, who previously wrote McCarthy vehicles Tammy and The Boss.
The bad news? We shouldn’t expect to see this movie in theaters anytime soon. The Hollywood Reporter suggests that Margie Claus is currently aiming for a November 2019 release date, meaning you’ve got at least two more years of Frozen viewings at family gatherings to get through before you can try and mix things up a little bit. Still, if Margie Claus manages to capture even a third of the magic of Elf, you’ll have another Christmas contender for years to come. Unless, of course, your family is still committed to watching Die Hard every year. Hey, did you know that Die Hard takes place at Christmas?