Leslie Jones To Produce Christmas Comedy For Lionsgate & The District

EXCLUSIVE: Deadline has learned that Lionsgate is working with Saturday Night Live alum Leslie Jones on an untitled Christmas comedy.

She is producing the project with Ruben Fleischer and David Bernad’s The District who are coming off a Presidents Day weekend box office win with Uncharted which has grossed $139M WW to date. Jones is developing the holiday feature as a potential starring role.

Superstore scribe Jackie Clarke is writing the Jones vehicle. Lenny Marcus is producing.

In the feature, Mrs. Claus is tired of not getting any credit for the work that she does. She decides to leave Santa and return to her hometown of Boston, where she moves in with her uptight sister and reconnects with her family, kickstarting a journey of self-discovery that will empower her sister and eventually lead her back to the real meaning of Christmas.

Erin Westerman, Lionsgate’s president of Production, tells Deadline, “We’re thrilled to be developing this together with Leslie. We all have a love of holiday movies and we know she’ll bring her unique comic sensibilities and voice as we develop this unique take on Christmas together.”

Aaron Edmonds & Chisom Ude will oversee for Lionsgate. Robert Melnik negotiated the deals for the studio.

Jones most recently starred in Amazon’s most watched movie and Oscar nominee Coming 2 America. She will next star on the HBO Max series Our Flag Means Death. She is represented by CAA and Hansen, Jacobson, Teller, Hoberman, Newman, Warren, Richman, Rush, Kaller & Gellman. The 3x Primetime Emmy nominee starred in 105 episodes of SNL, and starred in the Sony 2016 event movie Ghostbusters which grossed close to $230M.

Clarke is currently the co-creator, EP and writer of NBC’s Kenan. She is set to serve as a writer/EP of the upcoming Netflix series Blockbuster. She is represented by UTA, Range Media Partners and attorney Patti Felker.

Fleischer directed and executive produced Uncharted.