The upcoming DreamWorks comedy Office Christmas Party appears to be turning into a star-studded affair. Jennifer Aniston (Horrible Bosses), Jason Bateman (The Gift), T.J. Miller (Deadpool) and Kate McKinnon (Ted 2) seem set to star in the film. Josh Gordon and Will Speck (Blades of Glory) will direct. The comedy has been in development now for several years.
Office Christmas Party originated from a story by producer Guymon Casady (Steve Jobs); several screenwriters have been involved in the project in recent years and Lee Eisenberg (Bad Teacher), Gene Stupnitsky (Year One) and Laura Solon (Hot in Cleveland) are the latest to work on it. The plot follows a group of characters coming together for a holiday-themed office party that goes awry. A simple premise, but as comedy aces Tina Fey and Amy Poehler recently proved with their “let’s-throw-a-party” hit Sisters (which also co-starred SNL vet McKinnon), comedies need not have the most ambitious logline to be successful (Sisters earned $86 million domestically; not a bad take for a film that opened the same week as Star Wars: The Force Awakens).
Aniston and Bateman previously worked together on the 2010 comedy The Switch (which was coincidentally also directed by Gordon and Speck). Aniston will soon appear in the comedy Mother’s Day and appears close to headline the upcoming comedy Mean Moms – last year, she received SAG and Golden Globe nominations for her performance in the indie drama Cake. Bateman was last seen in the well-received thriller The Gift and next appears (vocally at least) in Disney’s upcoming animated film Zootopia. The former Arrested Development star also both starred and directed The Family Fang (co-starring Nicole Kidman) which premiered at the 2015 Toronto Film Festival; Bateman next will co-star in the Watergate drama Felt. Miller, currently part of the phenom that is Deadpool, will reprise his voice role in How to Train Your Dragon 3 while McKinnon (aside from continuing on Saturday Night Live) co-stars in the hugely anticipated female reboot of Ghostbusters.
Office Christmas Party is scheduled to start shooting sometime this spring while Paramount Pictures hopes to release the film in theaters on December 9, 2016.
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