For years, people have debated whetherDie Hardshould be considered a Christmas movie – you know, likeLethal Weapon. While I’m not here to relitigate that timeless argument, Hollywood surely knows that audiences love action movies set during the holidays, and to that end, Warner Bros. has just shelled out more than $1 million for the rights toTyler Marceca’s spec scriptStay Frosty, which comes with some high-profile attachments.
Sam Hargrave(Extraction) is set to direct the movie, which will starIdris Elbaas a man who miraculously survives an assassin’s bullet to the head and has to figure out who wants him dead and why as he makes his way back home in time to spend Christmas with his son.
Elba and Hargrave will produce alongside Dark Horse Entertainment’sMike RichardsonandKeith Goldberg, and Warner Bros. execPeter Doddwas responsible for bringing in the high-octane project, one that is poised to bring Marceca millions more should it ultimately head into production. If the writer sounds familiar, it’s because he wrote the Black List scriptThe Disciple Program, whichsold to Universal withMark Wahlbergattached to star.
Deadline broke the news, describing Elba’s character as being cut from the same deadly cloth asKeanu Reeves' John Wick, which may explain why there’s an assassin after him. Deadline also describesStay Frostyas a possible franchise play, so perhaps there’s more to this project than initially meets the eye.
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Elba will soon be seen as Bloodsport inJames Gunn’s action movieThe Suicide Squad, and he has also wrappedGeorge Miller’s next movieThree Thousand Years of Longing, which pairs the actor withTilda Swinton. Elba is also part of the all-Black ensemble ofThe Harder They Fall, a Netflix Western starringJonathan Majors,LaKeith Stanfield,Regina King,Zazie BeetzandDelroy Lindo.Jay-Zexecutive produced the film, which is expected to debut on the streamer before the end of the year.
Hargrave worked his way up from serving asChris Evans’ stunt double inCaptain America: The Winter Soldierto become fight and stunt coordinator onCaptain America: Civil War. By the timeAvengers: Infinity Warhit theaters, Hargrave had blossomed into a second unit director. He wound up making his feature directing debut with theChris Hemsworthaction movieExtraction, which became the most-watched movie in Netflix’s history last summer. That prompted the streamer to order a sequel that will bring back both Hargrave and Hemsworth, as well as producersJoe and Anthony Russo.
Hargrave is also attached to directJake Gyllenhaalin the MGM movieCombat Control, whichsounds like an exciting pairing on paper. He strikes me as a strong fit forStay Frosty, and with Elba front and center here, I expect this movie to heat up the holidays one December in the not-too-distant future. I’m just curious what Collider’s editor-in-chief thinks of the title…
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