Get ready Ally Carter fans, because the writer behind I’d Tell You I Love You, But Then I’d Have to Kill You has written a Christmas rom-com movie for Netflix called A Castle for Christmas!
To give credit where credit is due, Ally Carter, Kim Beyer-Johnson, Neal Dobrofsky, and Tippi Dobrofsky all worked together to write the script for A Castle for Christmas, but as a die-hard Ally Carter fan myself, her writing credit was the one that had me most excited! It’s Ally Carter’s first original screenplay!
About the Story
According to The Hollywood Reporter, A Castle for Christmas follows a famed American author, Sophie, who travels to Scotland and finds herself wanting to buy a castle, but the prickly owner, a Scottish Duke named Myles, is reluctant to sell to a foreigner. Working to find a compromise, the pair constantly butt heads, but along the way they just may find more than they bargained for.
No, it’s not based on a book, but knowing how Ally Carter’s books tend to have a romantic theme mixed with spies, thieves, or intrigue, there’s a good chance this film will have her trademark flair.
The Writers
Ally Carter has written young adult series including the Gallagher Girls series (about an all-girls school for spies), the Heist Society series (about a group of teens who steal back stolen art), and the Embassy Row series (about a girl living on Embassy Row who’s trying to uncover how her mother died). She’s also written the young adult novel Not If I Save You First (young adult) and most recently the middle grade novel Winterborne Home for Vengeance and Valor. A Castle for Christmas is Carter’s first original screenplay.
Neal Dobrofsky and Tippi Dobrofsky previously wrote last Christmas’s popular Netflix rom-com Holiday in the Wild, though it’s not the only Christmas movie they’ve written. They’re also credited with writing The Christmas Doctor (currently in post-production), Love in Winterland, Write Before Christmas, The Christmas Train, Crown for Christmas, and much more. They’ve also written for When Calls the Heart—not a Christmas show, but definitely rom-com material.
Kim Beyer-Johnson has also written for When Calls the Heart, though most recently she’s written for My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, Wedding March, My Little Pony: Rainbow Roadtrip, and A Valentine’s Match before joining the writing team for A Castle for Christmas.
The Director & Producers
Mary Lambert, the veteran filmmaker behind Pet Sematary and The In Crowd, is directing the feature which is currently filming in Scotland.
Brad Krevoy is producing with Amanda Phillips Atkins, Steven McGlothen, Steve Berman, Katrina Stagner, and Brooke Shields executive producing.
Casting & Release Date
Brooke Shields and Cary Elwes are starring in the romantic comedy. Shields was most recently seen in the final season of Jane the Virgin and Law & Order SVU. Elwes, who worked with Netflix on the second season of Stranger Things, was previously in the horror movie Black Christmas and joined the third season of Amazon’s The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.
There’s no release date yet, but according to Ally Carter’s Instagram post the film should be hitting Netflix in time for Christmas 2021 or 2022.
Megan Barlog loves great stories, be they books, movies, TV shows, or anything in between! She has studied both creative writing and screenwriting, and worked for both a library and a major NYC publisher. When she’s not writing a novel or screenplay, she’s probably out for a run or binge-watching something on Netflix.
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