Production Budget Analysis

The production budget for The Christmas Chronicles (2018) has not been publicly disclosed.

CAST: Darby Camp, Judah Lewis, Kurt Russell, Martin Roach, Lamorne Morris, Kimberly Williams-Paisley DIRECTOR: Clay Kaytis CINEMATOGRAPHY: Don Burgess MUSIC: Christophe Beck PRODUCTION: 1492 Pictures, Madhouse Entertainment, Ocean Blue Entertainment

Box Office Performance

Theatrical box office data is not publicly available for The Christmas Chronicles (2018). This may indicate a limited release, direct-to-streaming, or a release predating modern box office tracking.

Profitability Assessment

Insufficient publicly available data to assess profitability.

INDUSTRY IMPACT

Franchise: The Christmas Chronicles is part of the The Christmas Chronicles Collection.

PRODUCTION NOTES

▸ Production

Development for what would become The Christmas Chronicles began in June 2013, when it was announced Chris Columbus' 1492 Pictures had acquired a Found Footage spec script titled 12/24 written by Matt Lieberman and based on a story by Lieberman and David Guggenheim wherein two brothers set out to prove that Santa Claus is real, using their home video camera and inadvertently cause Santa’s sleigh to crash after stowing away with the brothers trying to work together to save Christmas.

In December 2017, it was reported that Kurt Russell would star as Santa Claus in the film for Netflix, later given the title The Christmas Chronicles.

Principal photography began in January 2018 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

▸ Music & Score

The film features a cover of Elvis Presley's Santa Claus Is Back in Town, performed by Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul, with actor Kurt Russell on lead vocals. The lineup includes Stevie Van Zandt (of Springsteen's E Street Band) and Marc Ribler on guitar. The band recorded the song with Russell at Steven's studio in New York. In the film, the song is performed by Santa Claus (Kurt Russell) during a scene set at the jailhouse. Each of the band appear onscreen, including Van Zandt and Ribler as named characters Wolfie and Dusty.

AWARDS & RECOGNITION

No awards data currently available for this title.

CRITICAL RECEPTION

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of based on reviews, with an average rating of . The website's critical consensus reads, "Viewers seeking a fresh holiday viewing option – or those simply in the mood for Santa Kurt Russell – should find The Christmas Chronicles well worth a yuletide stream." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 52 out of 100, based on 10 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".

Melanie McFarland of Salon said: "The film's no great shakes, but Russell's star power in 'The Christmas Chronicles' is a gift anyone should be happy to claim." Charles Bramesco of The A.V. Club wrote: "The film doesn't know how to get out of its own way and foreground what's working, namely the dynamo of screen presence placed more prominently in the advertising than the feature itself." Writing for Vox Magazine, Jenna Allen said: "Above all, it’s clear that Netflix has subverted the holiday movie blueprint – Hallmark, I'm looking at you – by giving us novelty, thrill and humor." Derek Smith of Slant Magazine wrote: "In the end, the film succumbs to the tropes and emotional contrivances of the family melodrama at its core, ending up as a serviceable yet mostly forgettable addition to the already overstuffed genre of holiday-themed films."