The Guns of Christmas Past: Liev Schreiber to lead Xavier Gens-directed action thriller

Ray Donovan star Liev Schreiber is getting locked and loaded for a holiday-themed action movie from Gangs of London director Xavier Gens called The Guns of Christmas Past. Deadline says Schreiber is negotiating for the lead role in Gens’s genre mash-up, described as “A Christmas Carol meets John Wick.”

The story revolves around Ebb (ah, I see what you did there), a former hitman for the mob who emerges from the shadows when his best friend gets killed. Ebb plans to infiltrate the enemy’s compound to inflict revenge, but the past, present, and future ghosts haunt him throughout the night to ruin his plans. Gens directs from a script by Andrew Hilton, with Navid McIlhargey and Erik Olsen producing.

I’m sorry, what? This movie sounds wacky! It’s like something Frank Cross from Scrooged would air on IBC Television on Christmas Eve. After 2022’s Violent Night, starring David Habour, outlandish Christmas movies are the new holiday hotness. Load up the sleigh, and let’s go!

“I am excited to work with Liev and XYZ Films and bring a modern design style to this unique and original script. I hope to follow in the tradition of classic holiday action movies like Die Hard, and create a really fun film that audiences will come back to year after year,” said Xavier Gens.

“Coming from XYZ, and given our experience delivering a fresh approach to action through such films as our Raid franchise, we see this as an action franchise vehicle akin to the breakout film Nobody, which was an enormous success,” said XYZ Films, who will produce and finance the project, alongside IPR.VC.

Schreiber’s next film is Asteroid City by filmmaker Wes Anderson. Schreiber features in the film alongside a cast of Hollywood heavy-hitters, including Tom Hanks, Bryan Cranston, Scarlett Johansson, Edward Norton, Jeffrey Wright, Tilda Swinton, Adrien Brody, Jason Schwartzman, Steve Carell, Hong Chau, Margot Robbie, Willem Dafoe, Steve Park, Maya Hawke, Matt Dillon, and Rupert Friend. The plot focuses on the itinerary of a Junior Stargazer convention that becomes disrupted by world-changing events.

What do you think about the plot for The Guns of Christmas Past? Do you believe Schreiber is the right actor to lead this quirky holiday-themed feature? Let us know in the comments!