What would anyone want for Christmas? Their wishes granted, of course. Melissa McCarthy stars as a genie of a jewelry box in the new family comedy from Peacock, Genie. Love Actually‘s Richard Curtis returns to the holiday season with this fantasy Christmas film that comes from director Sam Boyd, known for Love Life. Curtis has also written beloved comedies such as Bridget Jones’ Diary, About Time, Notting Hill and Four Weddings and a Funeral. Genie co-stars Paapa Kwaakye Essiedu as the summoner of McCarthy’s magical entity. Entertainment Weekly has the new exclusive first look of the Melissa McCarthy comedy with a few images as well as the new trailer
The synopsis from Entertainment Weekly reads, “Bernard Bottle (Paapa Kwaakye Essiedu) accidentally summons Flora while in the midst of a crisis. He’s been so busy with work that he’s lost sight of his marriage to Julie (Denée Benton) and obligations to his family. When he misses his daughter Eve’s (Jordyn McIntosh) birthday only 12 days before Christmas, Julie asks for a trial separation — only to then have Bernard’s tyrannical boss (Alan Cumming) fire him.Despondent and alone, Bernard dusts off a jewelry box and unintentionally releases Flora, setting in motion a series of adventures as he fights to get his family back and discovers the magic of unexpected friendship.”
Entertainment Weekly had the chance to catch up with writer and producer Richard Curtis about this upcoming film. Much of Curtis’ films take place on the end of the year holiday, and when inquired about what Christmas means to him, Curtis answers, “Christmas has always been very happy for me, and I like it as a deadline. It’s the clearest deadline in the year. It was a month into writing Love Actually that I decided it should be set at Christmas. I thought, “What can force people into thinking they’ve got to get stuff done?” In Genie, it’s like a ticking clock. And then there are all sorts of tropes that you can take advantage of. It’s the most famous week of the year with the most things connected to it. So, it’s to do with stuff you can play with, as well as generally a time for joy and a very useful deadline.”
Genie will be released on Peacock on November 22.