Violent Night Director Would Sometimes Have To Stop Filming Because The Cast 'Couldn't Stop Laughing' [Exclusive]
Outside of "Die Hard," the filmography of Shane Black, and also the masterpiece that is "Reindeer Games," Christmas action movies are few and far between, which often leads us to the tired debate of whether "Die Hard" even counts. Thankfully, director Tommy Wirkola is about to unleash a very welcome present to even things out this year with "Violent Night." A murderous Santa Clause is nothing new when you take into account movies like "Christmas Evil" or "Silent Night, Deadly Night." Where this film differs, however, is that David Harbour's Santa is taking names, not due to his own homicidal rage, but because he's saving a family from a group of mercenaries taking them hostage.
Between "Black Widow" and "Hellboy," Harbour seems to have made a name for himself playing red-suited characters kicking butt. The color suits him well. It's one thing to imagine the "Stranger Things" star going on a rampage in a Santa outfit, but actually seeing him stabbing mercenaries with sharpened candy canes gave me an indescribable amount of joy. Everything Harbour does in the red band trailer had me in stitches, which only makes me more excited for all of the lumps of coal Santa has for those on his naughty list.
"Violent Night" doesn't appear to take itself even remotely seriously, so it should come as no surprise that the cast and crew sometimes got in their own way by laughing too hard on set.
'I made them laugh so hard'
While attending a "Violent Night" press junket, /Film's Bill Bria got to speak with star John Leguizamo, who seemed as if he was having the time of his life working on this project. "I was with a chef's kiss of a cast, and it was a blast, man," says Leguizamo. Although there were points where his commitment to the bit prompted Wirkola to take a breather because he couldn't keep up with Leguizamo's hilarious improvisations:
"I made them laugh so hard, which is even more fun for me because I love making people laugh, and they were cracking up at all my crazy ad libs and the madness I was bringing, and they were making me crack up, too. Sometimes we had to stop filming because we couldn't stop laughing. That's how much fun [it was], and yet you're in this really violent movie. It's incredible. It's such weird emotions being pulled out of you in this flick."
Leguizamo plays Scrooge, the mercenary group's top dog, which puts him in an incredible position for comedic reactions. Imagine you're trying to pull off a simple heist, and quickly come to discover that your team is being taken out one-by-one at the hands of the season's most revered gift giver. I imagine that must have given him plenty to work with, because I don't even know how one would even attempt to process that.
When you go into a movie like "Violent Night," it's a movie that sells exactly what's on the tin, and I can't wait for Harbour to dispense some, as he says it, "season's beatings."
"Violent Night" is set to hit theaters on December 2, 2022.