Charlize Theron Wants to Star in a Remake of 1 Popular ‘Christmas’ Movie: ‘Where Do I Sign’
Actor Charlize Theron usually has a few projects in the works at any moment. And she may not be all that picky where her new ideas come from, given her response to a December 2020 tweet suggesting she remake a famous holiday film. Learn which movie and how the pitch came to be.
‘Happiest Season’ is a new take on an old genre
The Christmas romantic-comedy Happiest Season debuted in November 2020 on Hulu. The film sees Abby (Kristen Stewart) accompany her girlfriend, Harper (Mackenzie Davis), home for the holiday. Harper insists that they pretend to be friends and roommates because she’s not out to her family. Cue hijinks, heartbreak, and happily ever after.
Theron spoke with Davis about Happiest Season for Interview Magazine. The actor described it as “taking us on a road to normalizing a queer Christmas movie.” Davis agreed. “By taking [a] formulaic genre and only changing the people in the primary roles, you get all the safety of it, and it still has a little something different,” she said.
Many argue that ‘Die Hard’ is a Christmas movie
When discussing Christmas movies, there are typically two categories: Romantic comedies that firmly fall into (and essentially define) this category, and those of other genres that merely feature the holiday season as a setting, making them “Christmas-adjacent” to some. Die Hard is one such film.
In the 1988 classic action flick, Bruce Willis’ John McClane finds himself in a precarious situation. The police officer plan to spend Christmas Eve at a party reconciling with his wife, Holly, but instead ends up having to save her and those trapped inside the building from a terrorist, Hans Gruber (the late Alan Rickman).
Charlize Theron has made her mark as an action star
Theron’s filmography includes dramas like The Cider House Rules and North County and a few comedies, such as Young Adult and Long Shot. But much of her success has come from crime thrillers, beginning with another entry in the Christmas-themed crime genre: Reindeer Games.
From there, Theron went on to become a bonafide action star. Trapped and The Italian Job upped her credibility in the genre, but it was her Oscar-winning role in Monster that set her apart. Æon Flux and Mad Max: Fury Road sent the message home. She’s continued on this path in recent years with Atomic Blonde and The Old Guard.
Here’s the pitch for a ‘Die Hard’ remake
So what happens when the internet combines the Happiest Season discourse with a need for other groundbreaking Christmas flicks? “Lesbian Christmas rom coms are all well and good but what I REALLY want is a Die Hard where Charlize Theron goes on a rampage to save her wife,” wrote one Twitter user.
As it turns out, the actor is game. “Where do I sign,” replied Theron. A Christmas LGBTQ action remake with an A-list headliner sounds like box-office gold. And, as a seasoned producer, Theron has a fair bit of sway in the film industry. It may only be a matter of time before this idea becomes a reality.
