Naughty casting: Aniston, Dinklage, Wilde, Nov. 5, 2027

Holiday comedy calendars just got a star package. Universal has set Jennifer Aniston and Peter Dinklage to lead Olivia Wilde's Naughty, with a theatrical date of Nov. 5, 2027. Aniston plays Mallory. Dinklage plays Santa Claus. Wilde directs after The Invite.

The pitch, in Universal's words

This is not a warm-cocoa Santa origin story. The studio's own logline puts Mallory in a custody fight, then sends her hunting the North Pole's boss for courtroom help:

Mallory, whose only hope of securing custody of her son from her gaslighting trash-bag ex is to find Santa Claus and convince him to testify in her divorce hearing.

Jimmy Warden (Cocaine Bear, Borderline) wrote the screenplay from his original spec. When the package first circulated in 2023, the shorthand was Bridesmaids energy at the North Pole. The new casting makes that joke concrete: Aniston as the desperate mom, Dinklage as the witness in the red suit.

Peter Dinklage, cast as Santa Claus in Naughty (photo: Gage Skidmore / Wikimedia)

Who is making it

Wilde directs. LuckyChap (Margot Robbie, Tom Ackerley, Josey McNamara, Milan Popelka) produces with Wilde and Warden. Universal's Sara Scott and Jacqueline Garell oversee for the studio. That LuckyChap banner matters if you track holiday tentpoles: the company knows how to sell a big-swing comedy premise without sanding off the edge.

Wilde's directing stack is now Booksmart, Don't Worry Darling, The Invite, then Naughty. While promoting The Invite, she told SmartLess she was lining up a Christmas comedy to shoot next, which matches this Universal slot landing after her dinner-party hit.

For tone on what she just finished, A24's Invite trailer is still the cleanest public sample of her latest comedy gear:

Watch on YouTube

Olivia Wilde directs Naughty for Universal (photo: Jesse Kornblum / Wikimedia, SFFILM 2026)

Confirmed vs not confirmed

Item | Status
Jennifer Aniston as Mallory | Confirmed (Universal casting)
Peter Dinklage as Santa Claus | Confirmed (Universal casting)
Olivia Wilde directing | Confirmed
Theatrical release Nov. 5, 2027 | Confirmed (Universal date)
Jimmy Warden script; LuckyChap producing | Confirmed
Trailer, full supporting cast, runtime | Not out yet
Exact shoot start city / wrap date | Not public in this announcement

Same weekend, two Santa movies

Nov. 5, 2027 is also the dated theatrical window for Warner Bros. Pictures Animation's Margie Claus, with Melissa McCarthy voicing Santa's wife. That means Naughty opens into a family-holiday traffic jam: one live-action Santa comedy chasing a divorce hearing, one animated rescue comedy about Mrs. Claus. If both hold the date, expect split marketing lanes (adult comedy vs animated musical) rather than a pure head-to-head for the same ticket buyer.

Aniston arrives with The Morning Show's fifth and final season still ahead on Apple TV. Dinklage already has holiday comedy DNA from Elf, and he recently booked more Alien: Earth work at FX. None of that changes the Nov. 5, 2027 hold date. It just explains why Universal wanted both names locked before the slate got crowded.

What to do with this

Put Nov. 5, 2027 on a soft calendar, not a hard one. Studio holiday dates move. Watch for a title treatment, a first-look still of Dinklage in the suit, and whether Margie Claus stays on the same Friday. Follow the Naughty hub and the movies feed when Universal starts selling Christmas early.