''That Christmas'' (also known as ''Richard Curtis' That Christmas'') is an upcoming

computer-animated Computer animation is the process used for digitally generating animations. The more general term computer-generated imagery (CGI) encompasses both static scenes ( still images) and dynamic images (moving images), while computer animation refe ...

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by country, around t ...

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy ...

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...

film produced by

Locksmith Animation Locksmith Animation Ltd. (also known as Locksmith Animation Studios and simply known as Locksmith) is a British CGI animation film studio founded by Aardman Animations collaborators Sarah Smith and Julie Lockhart with the financial backing of ...

, animated by DNEG Animation and distributed by

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

. It is directed by

Simon Otto Simon Otto (born 12 June 1973) is a Swiss film director and animator. He is best known for working as the Head of Character Animation of the Oscar-nominated ''How to Train Your Dragon'' film trilogy for DreamWorks Animation. Life and career O ...

in his directorial debut and based on a series of children's books by

Richard Curtis Richard Whalley Anthony Curtis (born 8 November 1956) is a New Zealand-born British screenwriter, producer and film director. One of Britain's most successful comedy screenwriters, he is known primarily for romantic comedy films, among them '' ...

. The film is set for release on Netflix in 2024.

Premise

Production

Development

In November 2019, it was announced that

was developing ''The Empty Stocking'', an animated feature based on a series of children's books by

. In June 2021, Locksmith announced that Simon Otto will be directing the film as his directorial debut, which had been retitled ''That Christmas''. In May 2022, Locksmith Animation confirmed that it awarded the digital production of its second movie, ''That Christmas,'' to DNEG Animation'','' following their collaboration on Locksmith’s debut film, ''

Ron's Gone Wrong ''Ron's Gone Wrong'' is a 2021 computer-animated science fiction comedy film directed by Sarah Smith and Jean-Philippe Vine (in his feature directorial debut), and written by Peter Baynham and Smith. The film features the voice of Jack Dylan G ...

''. In June 2022, ''That Christmas'' was unveiled as part of

's slate of animated films with the first look of the film.

Animation

Animation was provided by DNEG Animation.

Release

''That Christmas'' was originally expected to be released by

Warner Bros. Pictures Warner Bros. Pictures is an American film production and distribution company of the Warner Bros. Pictures Group division of Warner Bros. Entertainment (both ultimately owned by Warner Bros. Discovery). The studio is the flagship producer of liv ...

under its

Warner Animation Group The Warner Animation Group (WAG) is an American animation studio serving as the computer-animated feature film label of Warner Bros.' theatrical film production and distribution division, Warner Bros. Pictures. Established on January 7, 2013, th ...

banner. However, in June 2022,

acquired the distribution rights to the film with

Netflix Animation Netflix Animation is an American animation studio and a subsidiary of Netflix. The studio primarily produces and develops animated programs and feature films. History When Netflix began to produce original animated content in 2013, all of them ...

under its label, although Warner Bros. Pictures was not involved with this film. In April 2023, the film's release year was revealed to be 2024.

References

External links

* {{Richard Curtis, state=collapsed 2020s American animated films 2020s British animated films 2020s English-language films 2024 fantasy films 2024 computer-animated films 3D animated films Animated Christmas films American children's animated films American Christmas comedy films American computer-animated films British children's animated films British Christmas comedy films British computer-animated films Films with screenplays by Richard Curtis Netflix Animation films Upcoming Netflix original films