Chris Kringle carnage came our way this Holiday season, so here’s the Violent night age rating and UK release date details for “gifty time” 2022 (more information below). In addition to the story and cast, you can also read the latest on the certificate and runtime to see how long this bearded beast is.
Violent Night is the latest film from Norwegian director Tommy Wirkola, who’s previous efforts include Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters, along with a host of Norse horror comedies like Dead Snow. Continuing the frosty theme, he’s taking on the big guy this time around with David Harbour (Stranger Things, Black Widow) in the Jolly Red Giant suit.
Story
AdvertisementThe shortened version of the Violent Night story is that Father Christmas has to beat the living schnitzel out of a group of goons trying to rob a family at Christmas. It’s essentially what you’d get if Home Alone, The Christmas Chronicles and John Wick cuddled up a little too closely one lonely chilly eve.
The longer version doesn’t get a whole load more detailed, but essentially the family is stinking rich and a team of robber mercenaries try to break in to get the loot contained in the family vault. This puts the youngest daughter, Trudy Lightstone, in peril and when Santa shows up to drop off the pony and Lamborghini, he gets mixed up in the whole punchie/killy mess.
AdvertisementJosh Miller and Patrick Casey have written the original screenplay, adding to their recent success with both the Sonic The Hedgehog Movie and its sequel. It’s also got 87th North on the crack team, who you’ll know from their work on John Wick, Atomic Blonde and Fast & Furious: Hobbs & Shaw, so it’s got a lot of pulling power.
Cast
In addition to David Harbour in the lead role as a very hard-hitting Father Christmas, the Violent Night cast also features John Leguizamo (John Wick, Encanto, Super Mario Bros.) as the leader of the criminal gang. Beverley D’Angelo (National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation) plays the rich grandma of the household.
AdvertisementThe cast list also includes Alex Hassell (The Boys) as the dad and Alexis Louder (The Tomorrow War) as the mum. Leah Brady (The Umbrella Academy) stars as their daughter Trudy.
Follow us on Twitter to see more news and updates on upcoming films, or visit the official movie Twitter page at https://twitter.com/ViolentNight.
UK release date
Initially, cinema listings didn’t include an official Violent Night UK release date, but that changed recently. The trailer came out a while ago now confirming the North America release to be the 2nd December 2022, which is pretty perfect considering the story. The good news is that it went on to be confirmed for the same date in the UK too.
The trailer had around 2 million views in its first day on YouTube. With the star appeal, seasonal story and production team behind the film it would have been weird if it didn’t get a cinematic release over here in Britain. It makes sense for it to be the same date as in the States, so thankfully we don’t have to wait until later in December, or worse still some streaming date in February to catch the ridiculously over-the-top action.
As it has now been confirmed for early December that should give it a DVD, Blu-ray and general digital release date around the end of March/early April. It may not go down so well at Easter, but it will definitely have at least a little re-watch value around Christmas 2023.
Violent Night age rating certificate
With the release 100% confirmed, and just around the corner, the Violent Night UK age rating has also been announced by the BBFC. It has been given a 15 certificate, which is what we’d expected based on the trailer and its comparisons with Atomic Blonde and John Wick.
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There’s clearly going to be bloody violence, gore, language considerations and gunfire to take into account. An age rating of 15 is equivalent to Rated R in North America, which is the confirmed certification on the other side of the Atlantic for any US readers.
AdvertisementThis also tallies up with the certification for other previous Tommy Wirkola films like The Trip, starring Noomi Rapace. Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters was the same, so it’s a pretty good starting point ahead of the official age rating from the BBFC.
Runtime
Violent Night had its premier at the New York City ComicCon, which had the screening down with a runtime of 2 hours and 15 minutes. Some of this was introduction, so you can shave a few minutes off for good measure.
Trailer
The trailer is as ridiculously overblown as the Violent Night story implies that it should be, but it’s also infinitely watchable. David Harbour is always fun to see and with the no-holds-barred approach to a Christmas film this could well be up there with Die Hard.
It’s got more than a few classic action hero-style one-liners that are reminiscent of more than a few Arnold Schwarzenegger movies. This is also a very different interpretation of Father Christmas than anything we’ve seen before. The tagline, “you better watch out” has a whole new meaning.
Check out our film news section to keep tabs on the latest, or check out the official movie website at www.violentnightmovie.com.
