Putting the Christ back into Christ What Else is On
Press release time!
MATT OKINE AND MIRANDA TAPSELL GET THAT FESTIVE FEELING IN THE STAN ORIGINAL FILM CHRISTMAS RANSOM
A riotous Christmas romp for the whole family, Christmas Ransom is a Stan Original Film from the creators of A Sunburnt Christmas, starring an ensemble of beloved Aussie stars.
8 September 2022 – Stan, Australia’s unrivalled home of original productions, today announced filming has commenced in Homebush, NSW on the brand new Stan Original Film Christmas Ransom, starring acclaimed comedian Matt Okine (Stan Original Series The Other Guy), TV Week Logie Award-winner Miranda Tapsell (Top End Wedding, The Sapphires, Love Child) and Ed Oxenbould (Stan Original Series Bloom, Puberty Blues, Paper Planes), with the film set to premiere this festive season, only on Stan.
Written by Elliot Vella, Gretel Vella and Timothy Walker (A Sunburnt Christmas) and produced by Every Cloud Productions (a Global City Group company), the creators of the award-winning Stan Original Film A Sunburnt Christmas and the Stan Original Series Eden, Christmas Ransom is a riotous comedy-adventure inspired by family favourites such as Home Alone, Die Hard and Elf, packed with heart and hijinks.
When beloved toy store, Harrington and Sons, is hijacked on Christmas Eve by a pair of bumbling criminals and the struggling owner (Okine) held for ransom, a pair of shoplifting kids stumble into the heist, where they are forced to team up with a heavily pregnant security officer (Tapsell) to save Christmas for everyone!
Christmas Ransom will also star Genevieve Lemon (Stan Original Series The Tourist, Prisoner, The Power of the Dog), Bridie McKim (Stan Original Series Bump, Dive Club) and young stars Evan Stanhope (Thor: Love & Thunder), Tahlia Sturzaker (I Am Mother, Ascendant) and Chai Hansen (The Newsreader) round out the cast.
Stan Chief Content Officer Cailah Scobie said: “Our Stan Original Christmas films have quickly become a beloved staple of our annual lineup, following the success of A Sunburnt Christmas and Christmas on the Farm. We are elated to again be working with the talented team at Every Cloud Productions, the brilliant writing team of Elliot Vella, Gretel Vella and Timothy Walker and such a fantastic cast to bring a fun and heartfelt tale to our screens this holiday season.”
Drew Grove, CEO and Executive Producer at Every Cloud Productions, said: “Christmas Ransom will bring the same irreverent humour and warmth everyone loved in A Sunburnt Christmas, with the added fun of some wild, high-stakes action hijinks. With a lot of mischief and heart, it will give everyone the chance to laugh, cry and cheer together for a film that is sure to become one of Australia’s classic Christmas tales.”
The Stan Original Film Christmas Ransom is created and executive produced by Drew Grove, Fiona Eagger, Deb Cox, and Mike Jones (all: A Sunburnt Christmas), directed by Adele Vuko (Skitbox, Wham Bam Thank You Ma’am, writer: Love Me), and produced by Naomi Just (The Unusual Suspects, Born to Spy, Ronny Chieng: International Student).
Christmas Ransom is financed by Stan in conjunction with Screen NSW under the Made in NSW Fund, Fulcrum Media Finance and Every Cloud Productions.
You may or may not remember A Sunburnt Christmas – we’re going to go with “not” – which was an odd mix of holiday cheer and a five year-old running around with a loaded shotgun.
Plus there was a lot of stuff about the death of a loved one, which tended to bring down the mood in a movie supposedly featuring plenty of “irreverent humour and warmth”. But it did feature an armed robber dressed as Santa, so it wasn’t all bad news.
Anyway, this looks like more of the same slightly-misjudged slapstick for the third year* in a row. Fingers crossed this is the year we get a Christmas miracle and the end result is actually funny.
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*okay, last year’s Christmas on the Farm was more of a rom-com – the slapstick was provided by viewers rushing to turn it off