UPDATE: It looks like Capital One is also getting in on the movie-star/Santa gravy train, with John Travolta playing Santa in a 30 sec ad that re-teams him with former PULP FICTION co-star Samuel L. Jackson. Cute. Kinda.
Hot on the heels of their 2019 holiday campaign, which memorably saw Henry Thomas's Elliot reunite with E.T: THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL, the folks at XFinity are at it again, with another Holiday short film. All things considered, 2020 has been a…let's say challenging…year for us all, and truth be told, the holidays aren't going to be much easier. Many of us are isolated from our families and simply can't risk returning home due to COVID-19, and in response to that, the company's short film this year shows Santa Claus (Steve Carell) and his elves "rebooting" Christmas for 2020 by packaging Christmas memories and giving them out as gifts.
It's all pretty saccharine, but the Craig Gilespie (I, TONYA) directed short is a pleasant-enough watch. Steve Carell is a very legit Santa (although I can't help but prefer Mel Gibson's gun-toting, six-pack chugging "Kris" in FATMAN). Check it out above. Deadline also notes, with more than a little bit of irony, that "after the holiday charm offensive, Comcast (Xfinity's parent company) plans to implement rate increases in 2021 covering a range of TV and internet services. (AT&T has announced similar increases.) A 1.2-terabyte monthly data cap is also going to be expanded to Comcast’s full 39-state footprint."
With that in mind, for a very different and perhaps even more apropos 2020 X-Mas film, check out the trailer for FATMAN below!