Stranger Things star David Harbour to play Santa Claus in R-rated Christmas movie coming soon

We’re used to seeing David Harbour play the protective and loving Jim Hopper in Stranger Things, but we’re about to see Harbour in a completely different role this upcoming holiday season. The Stranger Things star will be in an R-rated Christmas film titled Violent Night, and we’ve got all the important deets!

Violent Night is a Christmas action comedy film helmed by Norwegian filmmaker Tommy Wirkola from a screenplay co-written by Pat Casey and Josh Miller. You might be familiar with Wirkola as the director and writer of the box office hit Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters. You might also recognize Casey and Miller since they worked together as writers on the Sonic the Hedgehog live-action feature films. In addition, Kelly McCormick and David Leitch produced the Christmas film for 87North Production, and Marc S. Fischer signed on as executive producer.

In Violent Night, David Harbour plays Santa Claus, but he’s not your average Santa. We all know Santa Claus as a cheerful, white-bearded man who delivers presents to children on Christmas Eve. But Harbour’s Santa won’t be doing the same. He has a more important task to complete, such as saving the day by taking down a group of mercenaries attacking a wealthy family’s home on Christmas Eve.

Violent Night has been described as action-packed and a “coal-dark holiday thriller that says you should always bet on red.” I don’t know about you, but this sounds like something I’d want to watch! Read on to find out more about the Christmas film.

Who’s in the cast of Violent Night?

Here’s the complete cast list via IMDb below:

• David Harbour as Santa Claus
• John Leguizamo as Ben
• Beverly D’Angelo as Anne
• Alex Hassell as Skyler
• Brendan Fletcher as Krampus
• Erik Athavale as Richard
• Mitra Suri
• Alexis Louder
• Edi Patterson
• Cam Gigandet
• André Eriksen
• Sean Skene as Lead Bodyguard
• Frederick Allen as Bar Patron

When does Violent Night starring David Harbour come out?

The action comedy is scheduled to be released in theaters on Friday, December 2, 2022, by Universal Pictures in all territories. As we get closer to the release date, screenings should be made available. After four months in theaters, the film should then make its way to Peacock sometime in April 2023.

Will Violent Night be on Netflix?

Since Netflix and Universal have a multi-year, exclusive licensing deal, we can expect Violent Night to make its way to Netflix eventually. According to the deal, Netflix receives Universal live-action movies about four years following their theatrical releases. This means we’ll likely see Violent Night on Netflix sometime in 2026.