Christmas with the Kranks (DVD)

Christmas with the Kranks is a 2004 American Christmas comedy film based on the 2001 novel Skipping Christmas by John Grisham. It was directed by Joe Roth, written and produced by Chris Columbus, and starring Tim Allen, Jamie Lee Curtis, Dan Aykroyd, Erik Per Sullivan, Cheech Marin, Jake Busey, and M. Emmet Walsh. The film tells of a couple who decide to skip Christmas one year since their daughter is away, much to the chagrin of their neighbors until their daughter decides to come home at the last minute. This was Tom Poston s final film before his death in 2007.

Plot

After Riverside, Illinois couple Luther and Nora Krank see their daughter, Blair, depart for a Peace Corps assignment in Peru on the Sunday following Thanksgiving, and empty nest syndrome sets in. Luther calculates that he and Nora spent $6,132 during the previous year s holiday season, and, not looking forward to celebrating Christmas without their daughter, he suggests they invest the money usually spent on decorations, gifts, and entertainment and treat themselves to a ten-day Caribbean cruise instead. Luther insists that they completely boycott the holidays, and eventually Nora agrees.

The Kranks are amazed to discover they are considered pariahs as a result of their decision to skip the holidays. Those who are most vocal in their objections are neighbors Vic Frohmeyer and Walt Scheel. Vic, who is the self-proclaimed leader of the street, organizes a campaign to force the Kranks to decorate their home. Walt does not seem to like Luther, so his efforts are primarily personal. However, it is revealed that Walt s wife Bev is suffering from cancer, perhaps dampening his holiday spirits. Children, led by Vic s son Spike, constantly force them to put up a Frosty the Snowman decoration, and Christmas carolers try to revive the Kranks holiday spirit by singing on their lawn, which Luther stops by freezing his front lawn. Even the newspaper gets into the act by publishing a front-page story complete with a photograph of the unlit Krank house. Still, Luther and Nora continue to stand their ground. Luther s office colleagues, scout tree salesmen, and police fund collectors are also annoyed.

The two are in the process of packing on Christmas Eve morning when they receive a call from Blair, who announces that she is at Miami International Airport, en route home with her Peruvian fiancé Enrique as a surprise for her parents. When Blair asks if they are having their usual party that night, a panicked Nora says yes. Comic chaos ensues as Luther and Nora find themselves trying to decorate the house and coordinate a party with only twelve hours to spare before their daughter and future son-in-law arrive.

While Nora scrambles to find food, Luther goes to buy a tree, but is unable to get anything but a small, dried-up tree that quickly loses what few leaves it has. Luther then attempts to borrow the tree of neighbor Wes Trogdon (who is going away for a week with family to visit his in-laws) with the warning that he is not to break a single ornament or damage it. Luther enlists Spike s help to transport the tree across the street, but the neighbors spot him and, assuming he is stealing the tree, they call the police. Spike comes to Luther s rescue by showing that Luther has Trogdon s keys, and thus was given permission to borrow the tree. Nora comes home, having only been able to obtain smoked trout, and orders Luther to put up Frosty on the roof of their house, which fails miserably when he and Frosty fall off the roof.

Once it is established why Luther is trying frantically to decorate his home, the neighbors, led by Vic, come out in full force to help him and Nora ready it for Blair. Blair calls to say she landed from Miami, and the neighbors send the police to pick her up and stall long enough to let everyone finish setting up. The party starts off strong, with Blair having no idea of the earlier drama. Enrique thanks everyone for the warm welcome, and Nora thanks her neighbors for being a strong community. Luther, to everyone s disappointment, offers only a half-hearted toast. When Nora confronts Luther, he tries to convince her to still go on the cruise, but Nora refuses, disgusted that he is not happy that Blair is home. Having a change of heart, Luther slips out of the house and goes across the street to the Scheel home. Bev s cancer, once in remission, has returned and, knowing this may be their last holiday together, Luther insists they take the cruise in place of him and Nora, going so far as to offer to take care of their cat, Muffles, to allow them to go. At first Walt and Bev decline, but ultimately decide to accept his generosity. Luther, whose holiday spirit has been renewed, finally admits that skipping Christmas was not a good idea, with Nora suggesting they should maybe do it next year.

Cast

• Tim Allen as Luther Krank
• Jamie Lee Curtis as Nora Krank, Luther s wife
• Dan Aykroyd as Vic Frohmeyer, the Kranks domineering neighbor and usually the ward boss of the neighborhood
• Dava Hulsey as Amanda Frohmeyer, the doting wife of Vic and loving mother of Spike
• Julie Gonzalo as Blair Krank, the Kranks daughter
• M. Emmet Walsh as Walt Scheel, the Kranks obnoxious neighbor
• Elizabeth Franz as Bev Scheel, Walt s ailing wife
• Erik Per Sullivan as Spike Frohmeyer, Vic s son
• Cheech Marin as Officer Salino
• Jake Busey as Officer Treen, Salino s partner
• Austin Pendleton as Marty, an umbrella salesman who somehow knows everyone
• Tom Poston as Father Zabriskie, a priest
• Kim Rhodes as Julie, Luther s employee
• Vernee Watson-Johnson as Dox, Luther s employee
• Arden Myrin as Daisy
• Rene Lavan as Enrique Decardenal, Blair s fiancé
• Patrick Breen as Aubie, a stationier
• Caroline Rhea as Candi, a friend of Nora s
• Felicity Huffman as Mary, a friend of Nora s
• Kevin Chamberlin as Duke Scanlon, a Boy Scout leader
• John Short as Ned Becker, a neighbor of Luther and Nora s
• David Hornsby as Randy Becker, slacker son of Ned Becker, a neighbor of the Kranks
• Mark Christopher Lawrence as Wes Trogdon, another neighbor of Luther and Nora s
• Rachel L. Smith as Trish Trogdon, Wes s wife
• David Lander as Tanning Intruder

Production

Development

Joe Roth knew about John Grisham s Skipping Christmas before it was published in 2001. He was asked by Grisham to read the book in galley form, assuming he could direct a movie based on it. Roth recalls: It turns out he was right. Even while I was reading it, all I could think was that this would make a great Christmas movie. It had humor, it had wonderful characters and it had heart. With the rights of the book received and the May 2000 founding of Revolution Studios, he stated that as a start-up company, there was a great deal of work to do in order to get up and running.

Later, filmmaker Chris Columbus, who also bought the rights to Skipping Christmas and had written a screenplay, called Roth about directing the adaptation. As Roth explains: Naturally, I thought he was going to direct it. But he said, No, you should direct it. It turns out I was getting ready to direct another project. But when I read Chris s script, I knew I had to at least try to direct it. I promised myself that if I could get the right cast in place, I would do it. Producer Michael Barnathan said, Joe read the script on a Sunday, bought it on Monday, decided he wanted to direct it on Tuesday and by Friday had cast Tim and Jamie Lee. The following Monday morning we started pre-production.

Setting

Christmas with the Kranks takes place mostly in the Kranks neighborhood of Hemlock Street in Riverside, a suburb of Chicago, Illinois, over the course of four weeks from Thanksgiving to Christmas Eve. Production designer Garreth Stover originally looked for locations with the right weather conditions and suburban ambience for Hemlock Street, as described specifically in Columbus s script of the film. He was scouting from the metropolitan area of Chicago to Minnesota, but due to the extreme conditions of this part of the United States at the time, the filmmakers felt it was better to set up the neighborhood in an empty location instead of finding one.

When looking for a place to build the set 15 weeks before filming began, Stover chose a parking lot of a former Boeing aircraft factory in Downey, California, about 15 miles away from downtown Los Angeles and in the midst of Downey Studios. The rest of the first three weeks were spent on designing the houses with assistance from construction coordinator David Elliott. In the next 12 weeks, hundreds of carpenters, plasterers and painters had built what would become the largest exterior set ever for a movie, being more than 700 feet long and including 16 houses. What Stover called the core five were the houses of the Kranks, the Frohmeyers, the Scheels, the Beckers and the Trogdons, which he claimed had full ground floors that are dressed and you can see into. He also said that the second floor of the Kranks was built on a soundstage. Producer Michael Barnathan claimed that the set would later be available for other movies, TV series and commercials to use. However, due to both health complaints from the locals over toxic residues and a lack of profit, the studio closed in 2012 and was razed to build a mall.

The scenes involving Nora Krank s excursion to the supermarket to procure a Mel s Hickory Honey Ham were filmed at Cordons Ranch Market, located at 2931 Honolulu Ave, Glendale, California.

Costumes

Susie DeSanto handled the costume design of Christmas with the Kranks. According to DeSanto, I was looking for a project that was really textural, and maybe a bit nostalgic. I saw Christmas with the Kranks like a Christmas card, a beautiful Christmas memory of how we wish the holiday to be. So a lot of the fabrics I chose were not so much high-tech bright colors, but wools, plaids and mixing patterns. Joe was specific about what he wanted, but within that, he allowed me a great deal of freedom to express myself. However he did not have any impute on the tan segment of the movie where Luthor and Nora Krank were wearing colourful underwear to look their best for the cruise

DeSanto viewed that all the characters in Christmas with the Kranks would wear dresses that are supposed to serve as their accents rather than overtly defining them. Luther Krank is seen wearing the same-colored shirt and suit at work all the time, and according to DeSanto, this tells that Luther s a punch-the-clock kind of guy, so the whole idea of skipping Christmas and going off on a tropical vacation is completely averse to anything he s ever done. She described Nora as tasteful and kind of folksy, a middle-American woman approaching middle age. In our first meeting, Jamie Lee Curtis was totally prepared. She wanted to look like a real Midwestern woman who lives in the suburbs of Chicago and is as obsessed with Christmas as everyone around her. Nora dresses for the seasons and I found out by speaking to people at Marshall Field s in Chicago that the Christmas sweater is a big deal. And Jamie wears it so well. As for Vic Frohmeyer, she saw him as a sort of commander-in-chief of the neighborhood, so I wanted something with a bit of a military flair. Since he s also a college professor, we cut the pattern from a general s jacket and made it professorial by using a vintage tweed mixed with corduroy.

Music

Christmas with the Kranks: Music from the Motion Picture
Soundtrack album by Various Artists
Released	November 23, 2004
Genre	Christmas music, Garage rock
Length	37:03
Label	Hollywood
Producer	Little Steven

The soundtrack was produced and supervised by American musician Steven Van Zandt, who arranged and produced 6 of the tracks. It features many holiday standards, including Jingle Bell Rock by Brenda Lee; Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer by Billy May & His Orchestra with vocal by Alvin Stoller; I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus by Eddie Dunstedter; White Christmas by Dean Martin; Frosty the Snowman by Steve Van Zandt; Blue Christmas by Elvis Presley; and The Christmas Song by Ella Fitzgerald.

Unlike the movie, the soundtrack received generally favorable reviews, with many critics appreciating the use of garage rock as a fresh take on Christmas music. Houston Press featured it on their list of top 10 Christmas movie soundtracks.

Christmas with the Kranks: Music from the Motion Picture

No.	Title	Artist	Length
1.	Merry Christmas (I Don t Want to Fight)	Ramones	2:03
2.	Frosty the Snowman	The Charms	3:39
3.	The Christmas Song	The Raveonettes	2:12
4.	White Christmas	Tina Sugandh	4:00
5.	Merry Christmas to All the World	Jean Beauvoir	3:58
6.	Navidad	Rene Lavan and Austin Pendleton	2:02
7.	Feliz Navidad	Davie Allan	2:37
8.	Hey Santa Claus	The Chesterfield Kings	2:26
9.	Jingle Bell Rock	Brenda Lee	2:07
10.	Joy to the World	The Butties	2:44
11.	The Nutcracker Suite	The Brian Setzer Orchestra	7:09
12.	Blue Christmas	Elvis Presley	2:06
Total length:			37:03

Reception

Box office

On its opening weekend, it earned $21.6 million on 3,393 screens, ranking #3 behind National Treasure and The Incredibles. It eventually grossed $96.6 million worldwide.

Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 5% of 134 critics reviews are positive, with an average rating of 3.2/10. The website s consensus reads, A mirthless movie as fresh as last year s fruit cake, Christmas with the Kranks is a coarse, garish comedy that promotes conformity. It is the second-worst reviewed Christmas movie on the site. On Metacritic, the film has a score of 22 out of 100 based on 33 critics, indicating generally unfavorable reviews . Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of B on an A+ to F scale.

Roger Ebert gave the film 1/4 stars, calling it a holiday movie of stunning awfulness that gets even worse when it turns gooey at the end. Nell Minow of Common Sense Media gave the film 1/5 stars, writing: The characters are unpleasant, the jokes are unfunny, and the sentiment is hypocritical -- so this movie is about as unappetizing as last year s figgy pudding. Stephen Hunter of The Washington Post wrote: Christmas With the Kranks is a leaden whimsy so heavy it threatens to crash through the multiplex floor. Claudia Puig of USA Today wrote: You will not want to spend Christmas, or any other day of the year, with the Kranks. Or, for that matter, in the company of their uncommonly nosy, self-righteous and meddling friends and neighbors.

Scott Foundas of Variety was more positive, calling it an agreeable, if snowflake-thin stocking stuffer faithfully adapted from John Grisham s 2001 bestseller Skipping Christmas.

Home media

Christmas with the Kranks was released on DVD and VHS on March 8, 2005, and on UMD Video for PSP on November 8, 2005. It was released on November 14, 2005, in the UK. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment later released the film on Blu-ray on November 16, 2021.

Condition

New

Publisher

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

Published Date

2005

Age Group

Adult

Rating MPA

Pg

Recording Studio

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

Format

DVD

Brand

Sony Pictures Home Ent

Amazon ASIN

B0007A0F4E

UPC / EAN

043396048614

Year

2004

ReleaseDate

2004-11-24

RuntimeMins

99

RuntimeStr

1h 39min

Awards

Awards, 3 wins & 4 nominations

Directors

Joe Roth

Writers

John Grisham, Chris Columbus

Stars

Tim Allen, Jamie Lee Curtis, Dan Aykroyd

Produced by

Michael Barnathan, Bruce A. Block, Allegra Clegg, Chris Columbus, Alan B. Curtiss, Charles Newirth, Mark Radcliffe

Music by

John Debney, Paul Morabito

Cinematography by

Don Burgess

Film Editing by

Nick Moore

Casting By

Margery Simkin

Production Design by

Garreth Stover

Art Direction by

Christopher Burian-Mohr

Set Decoration by

Karen O Hara

Costume Design by

Susie DeSanto

Makeup Department

Hallie D Amore, Kenneth Paul Schoenfeld, Toni-Ann Walker, Joy Zapata, Petrice Bankhead, Barbara Cantu, Rebecca DeHerrera, Joel Harlow, Rob Hinderstein, Ned Neidhardt, Nacoma Whobrey

Production Management

Allegra Clegg, Daren Hicks, Gail Laskowski

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director

David M. Bernstein, Alan B. Curtiss, Jody Spilkoman, Ryan Craig

Art Department

Sergio Acevedo, Matthew R. Altman, Chris Alvarez, Kathy Ball, Larry Boyd, Gae S. Buckley, Brad Burbank, Kirk Corwin, John Coven, Michael Crowley, Robert E. Denne, James Dupuy, David Elliott, Chris Grantz, Charles T. Gray, Peter N. Griffith, Mark Heard, Donald G. Helderle, Dean Hensley, Bruce Robert Hill, Martha Johnston, Ken E. Jones, S. Ford Jones, Patricia Klawonn, Al Lewis, Kim Lincoln, Kathy Lucas, Cynthia Martinez, John McCabe, Kim McDonald, Barbara Mesney, Dane R. Moe, Mark Moretti, Greg O Donohue, Neil O Sullivan, Harry E. Otto, Mark Palmer, Pedram Pezeshkan, Craig Pittman, Alan Porter, Steve Powell, Benjamin A. Procter, Ed Regan, Gregori Renta, Reyes Rodriguez, Lee Runnels, Neil Saiger, Tommy Samona, Mared Scutti, Theodore Sharps, Andrew M. Siegel, John Snow, Jeff Snyder, Dave Stuart, Benton E. Tedlie, John Thellend, Kenneth Turek, Robert Van Dyke, Art Vasenius, George E. Vielma, Anthony Vitagliano, Todd Wolcott, Edward Wouters, Jason Bartolone, Tony Bohorquez, Adolfo Castanon, Elida Cerda, Steve Christensen, David B. Clark, Anne Clements, Kelly Deco, Wayne Fielder, Chad Fontaine, Tom Frohling, Lyle Maves, Bryan McBrien, Todd McKibben, Tony Miller, Carl Robarge, Liza Rudolph, Craig T. Shordon, Mike Suhy

Sound Department

Kyle Alexander, Willie D. Burton, Yann Delpuech, André Dias, Derrick Espino, Craig Henighan, Louis Hone, Darren King, E. Niles Klein, Goro Koyama, Ai-Ling Lee, Marvin E. Lewis, Andy Malcolm, Anna Malkin, Michael Minkler, Myron Nettinga, Barbara Noren, Jeena M. Phelps, Hari Ryatt, Joseph Schultz, Greg Steele, John C. Stuver, Gary A. Theard, Don White, Dan Yale, Eddie Bydalek, Caoimhe Doyle, Chris Fitzgerald, Onofre Ortega

Special Effects by

Allen Hall, Matthew Hall, Jeff Khachadoorian, Ken LaCross, Stephen D. Moore, Jeff Ogg, James Reedy, Juan Carlos Rodríguez, Frank Toro, Andy Weder, Fred Apolito, Joanne Bloomfield, Pamela Elliott, Edward Gettis, Parry Willard, Daniel Yates

Visual Effects by

Jason Anderson, Chris Arreola, Hector Barrera, Nikki Bell, Christopher Blasko, David Bleich, Rob Blue, Christian Boudman, Christian Bouyer, Mark Burns, Thelvin Cabezas, Aaron Campbell, Clark Campbell, Marla Carter Barrett, Det Chansamone, Spencer Cook, Nicolle Cornute, J.C. Cornwell, Lisa Deaner, Debbie Denise, Colin Drobnis, Sheena Duggal, David Emery, Brandon England, Eyal Erez, Nathan Eriksen, Mark Felt, Jenny Fulle, Andrew Goldstein, Don Greenberg, Dawn Guinta, Kee-Suk Ken Hahn, Max Harris, Christopher Hebert, Tom Hershey, Ivo Horvat, Bernardo Jauregui, George H. Joblove, Kevin J. Jolly, Creola N. Jones, Joanie Karnowski, Keith Kellogg, Michael Kennedy, Olin Kimberly, Alisa Loren Klein, Zsolt Krajcsik, Daniel Kuehn, Jennifer Kuo, David Lensch, Lauren A. Littleton, Francis Liu, Nick Loy, Annie Mahlik, Paul McGhee, Eric McLean, John Monos, Jake Morrison, Howie Muzika, Gregory Nic Nicholson, Andrea Lackey Pace, David Palmer, Jean-François Panisset, Eric Peterson, Rachel Phillips, Derrick Quarles, Jason Reisig, Tim Sarnoff, Michael Scheffe, Candice Scott, Steven J. Scott, Rick Shick, David Spencer, Jessica Stebbins, Boyd Steer, Jackie Szymanski, Stan Szymanski, David Takayama, Laurence Treweek, Angel Trujillo, Theo Vandernoot, Alberto Velez, Roger Vizard, Barry Weiss, Ray Wong, Patrick Clancey, Donnie Creighton, Steven Fagerquist, Vicki Galloway-Weimer, Meredith Hook, Perry M. Kimura, Thomas Mathai, Sarah Moore, Mike Ocoboc

Stunts

Nicole Basanda, Lisa Hoyle, Michael Hugghins, Donna Keegan, Dan Lemieux, Ernie F. Orsatti, Noon Orsatti, Rowbie Orsatti, Nancy Thurston, Todd Warren, Cody Weselis, Craig Baxley Jr., Michael T. Brady, Michelle Csitos, Jacob Dewitt, Rockey Dickey Jr., David Hugghins, Mark McDaniels, J.P. Romano, Todd Schneider

Camera and Electrical Department

William Ambrose, Ismael Araujo Jr., Katarino Bueno Jr., Richard M. Butkus Jr., Rocky Buzzini, Craig Campbell, Eddie Cordero, Edward J. Cox, Mark Cueto, Steven Cueva, J. Patrick Daily, Brad Emmons, Earl Gayer, Mark Gilmer, Ismael Izzy Gonzalez, Tony Graham, Bernie Hagadorn, Jeff Hale, Michael Hester, Derek Jensen, Kevin J. Lang, Dwight Joseph Lavers, Ken Longballa, John Lynch, Richard Maldonado, Marc Marino, Steven C. McGee, Michael McGuire, Victor Mendoza, Matthew Moriarty, Nina Moskol, John Murphy, Noe Nava, David H. Neale, Patrick B. O Brien, Morten Petersen, Rico Priem, Bradford Ralston, Zade Rosenthal, Josh Seifert, Chris Squires, Don Steinberg, Brian Tilden, Carlos M. Torres, Zoran Veselic, Rigger Dan Beard, Randy Beckman, John Davies, Michael Fastoso, Michael X. Flores, Michael Goldman, James A. Lundin, Kevin McNeil, William D. Moran, Dave Muskeni, Brian Rosso, Chris Shadley, Monte Swann, Troi Wilson

Casting Department

Susan Paley Abramson, Elizabeth Lang

Costume and Wardrobe Department

Vikki Barrett, Amanda Chamberlin, Jamelle Flowers, Deborah Hall, Susan Kistler, Dennis McCarthy, Ángela Núñez, Steve Constancio, Tyra Youland

Editorial Department

Julian Andraus, Petra Demas, Mo Henry, John P. Husky, Mike Jackson, Curtis Lindersmith, Jim Passon, Zachary Roth, George McCarthy

Location Management

Madeline Bell, Tyler Elliott, Rob Frank, Tom Lackey, Liz Matthews, Scott Bigbee

Music Department

Jeff Atmajian, Frank Bennett, Aleta Braxton, Jeff Carson, Tim Davis, Brad Dechter, Sandy DeCrescent, Jim Harrison, Lisa Jaime, Mitchell Leib, Shawn Murphy, Don Nemitz, Steven Van Zandt, Mike Watts, Wolfgang Amadeus, Tom Brown, Elin Carlson, Bryan Clements, John Debney, Lola Debney, Monique Donnelly, Mark Eshelman, Jon Robert Hall, Jim Hoffman, Jay Lifton, Greg Loskorn, Guy Maeda, Joseph Magee, Adam Michalak, Justin Reeve, Peter Rotter, Jason Ruder, Fletcher Sheridan, Patrick Spain, Sally Stevens, Erich Stratmann, Helen Werling

Script and Continuity Department

Luca Kouimelis

Transportation Department

Larry Alicata, Dave Amberik, Olivia Baker, Rodney Lee Bennett, John Bush, Jim Cafferty Jr., Randy Cantor, Tom Dias, Paulie DiCocco, Curt Michael Grooms, Donna Hall, Kirk A. Holland, Garner Humphrey, Michael D. Kuljis, James A. Lundin, Jan Marino, Carrie Marrow, Joel Marrow, Vic Martinez, Dennis V. Mckeehan, Jimmy Ray Pickens, Billy Ramirez, Graham Ready, Wayne Roberts, Evan Sklov, Joseph Sullivan, Patrick Sullivan, Guy D. Tardif, Daniel Valenzuela, Sal Velásquez

Additional Crew

Coleen Aiello, Spencer Aller, Tara Aucoin, Jeanne Austin, Crista Birgy, Robert Blanco, Jerry Carville, Annginetti Chandler, Stephen Christensen, Scott Cler, Dawn Clounch, Ricky Cuevas, Kelly Curtis, Elizabeth Devereux, Michael Dorner, Pam Elliott, Peggy Etra, Jordan Brendan Finnegan, Margaret Fitzgerald, Michael X. Flores, Lisa Garelick, Orlando R. Gonzales, Amanda Harrington, Christel Joy Johnson, Matthew Kennedy, Michael R. Kern, Jeff Ketcham, Colleen King, Tom Lackey, Stacey Mann, Ericka Bryce Poniewaz, Jacoby K. Radcliff, John Radcliff, Lois Radcliff, Willie Radcliff, Michael Singer, R. Lucas Stewart, Cheryl A. Stone, Karen Swallow, Cindy Taylor, Lloyd Thomas, Paul Tranghese, David Zimmerman, Bonnie Belknap, John Bonnin, Brinton Bryan, Don Crislip, Bianca D Carpio, Lisa Furia, Matthew I. Goldberg, Rhona Gordon, Mark Harden, Boone Narr, Huey Redwine, Ben Schoen, Peter Shenk, Lynnanne Zager

Thanks

Alan King

Genres

Comedy, Family

Companies

Revolution Studios, 1492 Pictures, Skipping Christmas

Countries

USA

Languages

English, Spanish

ContentRating

PG

ImDbRating

5.4

ImDb Rating Votes

49534

Metacritic Rating

22

Short Description

Christmas with the Kranks is a 2004 American Christmas comedy film based on the 2001 novel Skipping Christmas by John Grisham. It was directed by Joe Roth, written and produced by Chris Columbus, and starring Tim Allen, Jamie Lee Curtis, Dan Aykroyd, Erik Per Sullivan, Cheech Marin, Jake Busey, and M. Emmet Walsh. The film tells of a couple who decide to skip Christmas one year since their daughter is away, much to the chagrin of their neighbors until their daughter decides to come home at the last minute. This was Tom Poston s final film before his death in 2007.

Box Office Budget

$60,000,000 (estimated)

Box Office Opening Weekend USA

$21,570,867

Box Office Gross USA

$73,780,539

Box Office Cumulative Worldwide Gross

$96,593,018

Keywords

Christmas,slapstick comedy,santa claus,vacation,farce