You know what has been a really underserved genre in recent years? Holiday-themed films with large ensembles. Yes, you can probably hear the sarcasm in every strike of the keys there. But though the latest effort, Garry Marshall’s New Year’s Eve, didn’t enjoy the warmest critical reception, it did go on to make around $142 million worldwide, so the tide of treacly seasonal comedy is not going to stop just yet. Especially since Robert Redford and Diane Keaton are circling the leads in The Most Wonderful Time.
P.S. I love You/S****tepmom writer Steven Rogers has come up with the concept, which, according to Deadline he describes as an "Amelie-esque story about people who live for the future or hang onto the past, which prevents them from living in the moment, and not appreciating what is right in front of them." Err... Yay?
Redford and Keaton are likely on to play the leads in a plot that will feature multiple strands interlinking and plenty of heart-warming Christmas cheer. Which director Jessie Nelson will probably bring together on a soundstage in the middle of a sweltering July summer. Nothing says Christmas like having to stop the air conditioning to shoot!