Sally Hawkins, Maggie Smith to Star in A BOY CALLED CHRISTMAS

Studiocanal, Netflix and Blueprint Pictures commenced production on the film A BOY CALLED CHRISTMAS, which will star Maggie Smith, Sally Hawkins, and Kristen Wiig.

Directed by Academy Award® nominee Gil Kenan, A BOY CALLED CHRISTMAS also stars Jim Broadbent, Zoe Colletti (Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark), Toby Jones (Infamous), Michiel Huisman (The Haunting of Hill House), Henry Lawfull (Les Miserables), Rune Temte (Captain Marvel), and Indica Watson (The Missing).

Ol Parker and Gil Kenan have adapted the screenplay from the bestselling book by Matt Haig, the first of 5 books in the acclaimed series, all of which are published by Canongate Books.

The origin story of Father Christmas is re-imagined in Gil Kenan's live action A BOY CALLED CHRISTMAS. An ordinary young boy called Nikolas sets out on an extraordinary adventure into the snowy north IN SEARCH OF his father who is on a quest to discover the fabled village of the elves, Elfhelm. Taking with him a headstrong reindeer called Blitzen and a loyal pet mouse, Nikolas soon meets his destiny in this magical, comic and endearing story that proves nothing is impossible...

STUDIOCANAL will release the film theatrically in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Germany, France and China, and Netflix will release the film in the rest of the world. STUDIOCANAL will produce with Graham Broadbent and Pete Czernin of BAFTA and Academy Award® winning Blueprint Pictures.

Academy Award® winning team at Framestore will provide the visual effects for the film. The Production Designer is Gary Williamson.