Universal has found its Santa. Jennifer Aniston and Peter Dinklage are set to lead “Naughty,” the long-gestating holiday comedy from director Olivia Wilde, with Dinklage taking on the surprising role of Saint Nick himself, Deadline first reported.
The setup, as Deadline describes it, follows Mallory (Aniston), a mother whose best shot at winning custody of her son from her “gaslighting trash-bag ex” is tracking down Santa Claus and convincing him to testify on her behalf at the divorce hearing. Universal originally pitched the project back in 2023 as something close to “Bridesmaids” set at the North Pole, and the script from “Cocaine Bear” writer Jimmy Warden reportedly sparked a real bidding war before the studio won it out, according to World of Reel.
Wilde signed on to direct that same year, but the film got pushed behind another project first. She ended up making “The Invite” instead, a dinner-party comedy that premiered at Sundance to a bidding war of its own — A24 acquired it after an all-night sale, and it’s since landed at a 97% on Rotten Tomatoes with an 82 on Metacritic, per World of Reel. MovieWeb put its worldwide box office at roughly $31 million, calling it one of the year’s biggest surprises. The Hollywood Reporter’s David Rooney was blunt about Wilde’s growth as a filmmaker in his review, writing that it’s hard to deny she’s the real deal as a director, per THR.
Moving Fast to Keep the Deal Together
That success is apparently what pushed “Naughty” back onto the studio’s calendar. Deadline reported that once “The Invite” took off, Universal moved quickly to lock down Aniston and Dinklage’s schedules before losing Wilde to something else, working the deal through a greenlight board over the past several weeks. The film now has a release date: November 5, 2027.
LuckyChap — Margot Robbie’s production company, run alongside Tom Ackerley, Josey McNamara, and Milan Popelka — will produce, joined by Wilde and Warden, according to Variety. Sara Scott and Jacqueline Garell will oversee the project for Universal.
For both leads, it’s familiar seasonal territory, if a stranger role than usual. Aniston appeared in the 2016 ensemble comedy “Office Christmas Party,” while Dinklage had a memorable supporting turn in 2003’s “Elf,” Hollywood Reporter noted. This time, though, Dinklage isn’t playing an elf — he’s Santa himself, a casting choice World of Reel called an unusual pairing worth watching.
The timing lines up with busy stretches for both stars elsewhere. Aniston is currently wrapping her run as executive producer and star of “The Morning Show,” heading into the Apple TV series’ fifth and final season, while Dinklage has just booked a key role on FX’s “Alien: Earth,” according to Yahoo/ComingSoon.net and Variety.
Wilde is expected to begin shooting “Naughty” in August, per World of Reel, putting the film on a tight but workable path toward its 2027 release — and giving Universal a shot at turning Wilde’s post-“Invite” momentum into one of its bigger holiday bets next year.
