Fred Claus | |
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Theatrical release poster
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Directed by | David Dobkin |
Produced by |
Joel Silver David Dobkin Paul Hitchcock Jessie Nelson |
Written by |
Dan Fogelman Jessie Nelson |
Starring |
Vince Vaughn Paul Giamatti Miranda Richardson John Michael Higgins Elizabeth Banks Rachel Weisz Kathy Bates Kevin Spacey |
Narrated by | Trevor Peacock |
Music by | Christophe Beck |
Cinematography | Remi Adefarasin |
Edited by | Mark Livolsi |
Production
company |
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Distributed by | Warner Bros. Pictures |
Release date
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Running time
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115 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $100 million |
Box office | $97.8 million |
Fred Claus is a 2007 American fantasy comedy family film directed by David Dobkin, written by Dan Fogelman and Jessie Nelson, and starring Vince Vaughn and Paul Giamatti. The film was released on November 9, 2007, in the US and later released in the UK on November 30, 2007, by Warner Bros. Pictures. It is loosely based on the poem "A legend of Santa and his brother Fred" written by Donald Henkel.
A baby is born, and within a few minutes of his birth, he starts saying: "Ho, ho, ho!". Mother Claus calls her son, Frederick, over to meet his new brother, whom she has decided to name Nicholas. Mother Claus lovingly refers to the new baby as her little Saint Nick. During Christmas, when Nick opens his gifts including Fred's, he decides to give them away to orphans which makes Fred angry. Mother Claus advises Fred to be a better person by stating he should be more like his brother; this in turn causes Fred to resent Nick. Feeling isolated, Fred often climbs a tree to confide his problems in a bird. On one occasion, Nick cuts down the tree, saying that now Fred can bring it inside since he liked it so much. However, the birdhouse Fred's confidant lived in is smashed, causing the bird to leave; this causes a permanent rift between Fred and Nick.
In the present day, it is revealed that when Nick becomes a saint due to all his good deeds, he, Fred, and Mother and Father Claus become frozen in time, never to age. Nick has become the modern-day Santa Claus, giving gifts to people and Fred works as a repossession agent in Chicago to take them away. His girlfriend, Wanda, gets mad at him for forgetting that her birthday was the next day. Wanda refers to a previous birthday where Fred promised to take her to France. When Fred gets back to his own apartment, he watches TV when a young orphan boy named Samuel "Slam" Gibbons comes in. Slam talks about wanting a puppy named Macaroni for Christmas. Fred is attacked by countless men dressed up as Santa and after he gets arrested, he calls his brother for $5,000 bail money. He also asks for an additional $50,000 for a get rich quick scheme. Nick agrees to give him the bail money, but tells him that if he wants the $50,000, he has to come to the North Pole and work for it.