All Universal Pictures Home Entertainment wants for Christmas is Mariah Carey.
The singer's hit holiday song "All I Want for Christmas Is You" is the basis for a new CGI animated movie.
The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed that production is underway on Mariah Carey's All I Want for Christmas Is You, directed by Guy Vasilovich from a script by Temple Mathews. Carey narrates the film, which features a voice cast including Henry Winkler, Lacey Chabert, Breanna Yde, Phil Morris, Laya Hayes and Keiko Agena. It is executive produced by Carey and Stella Bulochnikov for Magic Carpet Productions, in partnership with producer Mike Young and Splash Entertainment, and will be released this holiday season by Universal 1440 Entertainment, a production entity of Universal Studios Home Entertainment.
The film sees Yde voicing a young Mariah who sees a darling puppy named Princess at the pet store and suddenly knows exactly what she wants for Christmas. But she must prove that she can pet-sit Jack, a scraggly rascal of a dog who turns Mariah and her family's holiday preparations upside down. The movie's plot expands on that of Carey's 2015 children's book of the same name, which has sold over 750,000 copies.
"I am thrilled to be able to bring the story of the song to new generations of families," said Carey in a statement.
The song "All I Want for Christmas Is You," released by Carey in 1994, makes an annual appearance on the Billboard Hot 100 chart (peaking at No. 11 in 2015) and repeatedly tops the Billboard Holiday chart. The upbeat modern classic, written by Carey and Walter Afanasieff, ushered in her fourth studio album and first seasonal album, Merry Christmas. Carey has since released new versions in 2010 and 2011 (one with Justin Bieber in tow), but the original recording remains one of her best-selling singles of all time. "Christmas" is additionally the best-selling holiday download (since Nielsen began tracking digital song sales in 2003), with over 14 million copies sold to date, while Merry Christmas has sold 5.5 million copies in the U.S.
The Universal offering will be one of a few new animated holiday titles this year. Slated for theatrical release is Sony's faith-based The Star, directed by Timothy Reckart, which follows a small but brave donkey and his friends as they become accidental heroes in the first Christmas. Other animated films hitting theaters during the Christmas box-office season are Pixar's Day of the Dead celebration Coco and Fox's bullfighting title Ferdinand.
Carey announced the news on Twitter on Tuesday morning.
