Shirley MacLaine has signed on to join Anna Kendrick in Disney’s female Santa Claus film “Nicole,” sources tell Variety.
Bill Hader and Billy Eichner are also on board. “Miss Congeniality” scribe Marc Lawrence is directing and writing the script.
The movie revolves around Santa’s daughter, presumably the titular Nicole, who is forced to take over the family business when her father retires and brother ends up getting cold feet prior to his first big Christmas Eve flight. MacLaine will play Elf Polly who was Nicole’s nanny and helped raise her all of her life.
Suzanne Todd is producing, while Louie Provost is overseeing the project for Disney. Production is expected to start sometime this fall. The film hits theaters on Nov. 8, 2019.
While this movie is not related to Disney’s “The Santa Clause” trilogy starring Tim Allen, the studio seems to be in the Kris Kringle business, as it’s also developing another holiday-themed project: Kevin Hart’s “Dashing Through the Snow.”
MacLaine, known for roles in classics such as “The Apartment” and “Terms of Endearment,” was most recently seen in Myriad Pictures’ “The Last Word” opposite Amanda Seyfried and Thomas Sadoski.
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She is repped by CAA.
