Movies · News

Jessica Chastain and Octavia Spencer Team Up for a Christmas Comedy

It’s the holiday movie we need.
Jessica Chastain Octavia Spencer The Help
By  · Published on January 18th, 2018

It’s the holiday movie we need.

Universal Studios has won a heated bidding war to bring Jessica Chastain and Octavia Spencer‘s new film to the big screen. The as-yet-untitled project will reunite the two of the stars of The Help half a decade later.

Not much is known about their new team-up, except that it will be a Christmas comedy — specifically, two women try to make it home for the holidays, and hijinks presumably ensue. Universal beat out Paramount and Fox for Chastain’s highly sought-after pitch through her production company, Freckle Films.

Spencer has had roles in comedies in the past, although far too many of her characters have actually been unnamed. The Help brought her an Academy Award and boosted her profile tremendously, leading to fantastic roles in such films as Hidden Figures and this year’s awards favorite The Shape of Water. Having Spencer lead a comedy film makes sense, as her comedic timing is perfect.

This Christmas comedy will be fairly new territory for Chastain, though. Her claim to fame has been as a formidable dramatic actress, most recently in Aaron Sorkin’s Molly’s Game. So far, Madagascar 3 has been her least intense project. If this project is as much of a feel-good film as it seems, we would get to experience a totally different side of the actress that is long overdue.

Chastain and Freckle Films head Kelly Carmichael penned the film’s original treatment, and Crazy Rich Asians screenwriter Peter Chiarelli will be writing the script. Chiarelli also wrote The Proposal and contributed to Now You See Me 2. Chastain’s fans are well-aware of how outspoken she is about bringing good roles for women to life, which is another level of assurance for her team-up with Spencer.

On a less serious and far more personal note, The Proposal is admittedly one of those movies that aren’t technically the best, but that I enjoy immensely regardless. And Chastain and Spencer are two of my favorite actresses. So, finding out that this film will be made feels like actual Christmas.

Related Topics: ,

Sheryl Oh often finds herself fascinated (and let's be real, a little obsessed) with actors and their onscreen accomplishments, developing Film School Rejects' Filmographies column as a passion project. She's not very good at Twitter but find her at @sherhorowitz anyway. (She/Her)