Real Christmas

If last year’s “Fred Claus” didn’t give you heartburn maybe this year’s Vince Vaughn holiday comedy will do it for you.

It is all about Christmas — and divorce. Cheery, eh? Vaughn plays a newly married man who, with his bride (played by Reese Witherspoon), has to spend Christmas with his divorced parents. Just to keep things moving along, Reese’s parents are divorced too, and — don’t you know it? — they need some love at Christmas too.

According to MTV Movie Blogs, Vaughn thinks the movie will be a scream:

“It’s going great. It’s very funny, and I’m having a lot of fun doing it,” Vaughn said of the film, which follows a married couple struggling on Christmas day to visit each of their four divorced parents.

But the film will also try to touch on some serious matters. “It’s about divorce,” Witherspoon said, noting the modern-day slant. “It’s about how people have step-families and [need to] negotiate going to your mom’s and your dad’s. I really think people haven’t seen many movies like that.”

But since this is a Vince Vaughn flick, you know he’ll squeeze in some roughhouse comedy along the lines of the notorious “Wedding Crashers” touch-football scene. “His brothers are obsessed with UFC,” Witherspoon said, referring to the extreme-fighting organization Ultimate Fighting Championship. “There are some great UFC fighting challenges between Vince and his brothers that are pretty outstanding.”

Um….yeah. Sounds like a real winner. The topper? This upcoming movie features some treading on sacred ground:

“There’s also a nativity scene that’s going to kill people.” Witherspoon said. ”It’s really funny. I’m the Virgin Mary, and he’s Joseph.”

Great. First he destroys the image of Santa and now Vaughn aims squarely for the Baby Jesus.

Save yourself the money now, folks. This is going to bomb.

ABC Family’s 11th annual “25 Days of Christmas” programming event, will feature over two hundred hours of holiday-themed entertainment for the whole family from December 1- 25.

In addition to classic holiday favorites like “Rudolph’s Shiny New Year,” “Frosty’s Winter Wonderland” and “Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town,” this year’s holiday event will also feature an all new holiday special, “A Miser Brothers Christmas,” the sequel to the holiday favorite “A Year Without a Santa Claus.”

In addition, ABC Family presents the new original movie “Snow 2 Brain Freeze” starring Tom Cavanaugh and Ashley Williams, the sequel to our highly successful “Snow” as well as the basic cable premieres of “The Chronicles of Narnia” and “Cars.” And again this year, Christmas comes early with “Countdown to 25 Days of Christmas,” which adds fifteen additional days of holiday programming.

Freddy Rodriguez made the most of his time off from ABC’s Ugly Betty (he’s Gio, the sandwich seller) by celebrating Christmas a little early.

He went home to Chicago to executive-produce and star in Humboldt Park, a holiday-themed comedy-drama due in November about a family reunion set in the Puerto Rican community. Rodriguez and producer Bob Teitel (Barber Shop) “wanted to make the first Christmas movie that centered on a Latin family,” says the actor, 33. “Bob had success in making Soul Food into an American movie, and we hope to bring that magic to our movie.”

He plays a soldier just back from Iraq who rejoins his brother (John Leguizamo) and sister (Vanessa Ferlito) at the home of their parents (Alfred Molina, Elizabeth Peña). “Dysfunctionality ensues,” he says.

As with most ethnic traditions, feasting is a must. The menu includes pasteles, “boiled meat pies with grated green bananas.” For dessert, “there is flan and a bread pudding called budin.”

Country star Trace Adkins will make a ghostly appearance opposite Kelsey Grammer in David Zucker’s indie Christmas comedy “American Carol.”

Jon Voight, Leslie Nielsen and Dennis Hopper have cameos in the takeoff on Charles Dickens’ classic holiday tale. The singer will play the Spirit of Christmas Future (a.k.a. the Grim Reaper), who uses his musical abilities to help Scrooge (Grammer) avoid a tragic end.

Adkins made his screen debut in this year’s Slamdance entry “Trailer Park of Terror,” recently came in second on NBC’s “Celebrity Apprentice” and wrote the 2007 book “A Personal Stand: Observations and Opinions From a Freethinking Roughneck.” His new single, “You’re Gonna Miss This,” just hit No. 1 on the Billboard country singles chart.

The film is shooting in Los Angeles through April 15.

Financed by Mississippi magnate and philanthropist Richard Headrick, and marking the feature film directorial debut of TV writer and author Darrel Campbell, An Ounce of Courage is destined to ruffle some feathers. At least that’s the expectation of Campbell, who begins shooting the drama on Monday in Paola, Kansas.

“What we’re tackling is the mindset that you have to say ‘Happy Holidays’ instead of ‘Merry Christmas,’” he explains in an interview with the Kansas City Star. “Without really hammering the religious implications, it’s a story about freedom and its loss. You could make this movie about any number of freedoms. I’m sure the controversy will be there … there are people who intimidate school boards and city councils for things which are really within the legal rights of free speech and expression.”

Former Kansas City Chief football player turned successful actor Fred Williamson stars as a small town lawyer who takes the mayor (Marshall Teague) to court over the latter’s attempts to sponsor a denominational Christmas celebration. Former Summer of ‘42 star Jennifer O’Neill plays the mayor’s wife. Also starring are Jenna Boyd and Hunter Gomez.

This is actually the second feature film in which Campbell has had a hand. Back in 1991, his book Pistol: Birth of a Legend, about flamboyant 1970’s and 1980’s NBA All-Star Pete Maravich, was turned into a movie with Adam Guier in the lead role.

“A Christmas Story,” the beloved 1983 movie comedy about holiday hopes in a Midwest American setting in the mid-20th century, is being developed into a traditional stage musical by producers Gerald Goehring and Douglas C. Evans.

Goehring and Evans were behind Off-Broadway’s recent Frankenstein, the pop-rock musical, which will start its licensing life in the coming year, and is being developed for a tour in 2009. They told Playbill.com that they’ve been in discussions with theatres to get a production of their musical, A Christmas Story, on its feet as early as the holiday season of 2008.

The project’s collaborators — a lyricist, a librettist and a composer — will be announced shortly. The producers said the script and score can be delivered in five months, in time for rehearsals.

Goehring and Evans exclusively optioned the musical rights — for a first-class, large-cast musical — from the Dramatic Publishing Company, Inc.

A Christmas Story already exists as a non-musical stage show that has been popular in regional markets.

The musical will be based upon the motion picture, “A Christmas Story,” which was produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer/Turner Entertainment Co. and is currently distributed by Warner Bros. The movie was written by Jean Shepherd, Leigh Brown and (director) Bob Clark, and was based on “In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash,” a novel by late humorist Shepherd (1921-99), who narrated the movie.

The producers characterize the musical project this way: “A Christmas Story is a whimsical, slightly-twisted and beloved tribute to an all-American, nostalgic view of Christmastime. Set in Indiana during the 1940s, a young Ralphie dreams of his ideal gift for Christmas and is waging an all-out campaign to convince his reluctant parents. Ralphie mounts a full-scale, hint-dropping, Santa-begging campaign. He also endures all kids of childhood calamities from his brother’s snowsuit paralysis to the yellow-eyed Scotty Farkus affair to the dreaded tongue-on-a-frozen-flagpole stunt. A triple-dog-dare Christmas classic for the American stage.”

Reese Witherspoon and Vince Vaughn are clashing on the set of their new film, “Four Christmases,” spies told the New York Daily News.

Famously alpha personality Reese — who named her production company Type A Films — is clashing with Vaughn’s laid-back approach to work, the News reported.

“Vince rolls onto set in the morning looking like he just came in from a night out, while Reese will arrive early looking camera-ready,” said the San Francisco source. “Then Reese tries to force Vince into blocking out each scene and running through their lines as Vince tries to convince her that he’s an ad-libber and wants to play around and see where the scene goes.”

However, the romantic comedy about a married couple who spend a Christmas with each of their four divorced parents remains on schedule and on budget.

“She’s a one-take perfectionist and Vince likes to try it a few different ways,” said the News snitch. “Sometimes Vince will be standing behind her and he has this look on his face that he just wants to kill her!”