Universal won the rights to new holiday comedy film pitch by Olivia Wilde and Katie Silberman, the director and writer behind the 2019 coming-of-age comedy Booksmart. Universal acquired the rights to the pitch after a bidding battle with six other studios.
Olivia Wilde, an actress who made her directorial debut with Booksmart, is attached to direct the film while Katie Silberman, who wrote the final script of Booksmart, will be writing the screenplay for the new film and both Wilde and Silberman will produce.
Booksmart won praise for its contemporary portrayal of high schoolers, played by Beanie Feldstein and Kaitlyn Dever, who try to defy labels and expectations as they prepare to graduate. It has made around $22M at the box office since its world premiere at SXSW on March 10, 2019, and subsequent theatrical release on May 24. Booksmart is currently sitting at a 97% Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.
Wilde is currently filming Richard Jewell, a film directed by Clint Eastwood, and recently starred in A Vigilante, an indie film that was released this year on March 29. Silberman recent credits are for her writing in romantic comedies Set It Up and Isn’t It Romantic, the latter of which starred Rebel Wilson, Chris Hemsworth, Adam DeVine, and Prianka Chopra.
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