Update: A third cast member from “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation” is joining the new holiday movie filming in Central New York.
* * * * *
Clark Griswold and Cousin Eddie are getting back together.
Chevy Chase and Randy Quaid, who both starred in the 1989 film “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation,” will reunite on screen for a new holiday film that will be shot in Central New York.
Chase’s role in the project, titled “The Christmas Letter,” was announced last week by director Tori Hunter. Quaid has been added to the cast, actor Angus Benfield announced Wednesday on Facebook.
“We’re going to have both Chevy and Randy reunited again on the screen,” Benfield said.
Benfield said there will be “a little bit of an homage to ‘Christmas Vacation,’” referencing the holiday classic written by John Hughes. That film centered on Clark Griswold (Chase), a married father of two, whose plans for a big family celebration turn into disaster with memorable scenes involving Christmas lights, sledding, gift shopping, a squirrel, and a visit from Cousin Eddie (Quaid).
“The Christmas Letter” will focus on an “everyday man who gets a Christmas letter every year from his (wealthier) friend” and decides to take his family on “wild, crazy adventures” for a whole year in an attempt to top his friend’s Christmas letter, according to Hunter.
“It’s a holiday film that goes past the holidays,” Hunter explained. “I love that we get to go on a whole year of him searching for happiness and joy until he finds his true happiness... is right in front of him with his family.”
Benfield, whose credits include “Inventing Anna,” “Yellow Bird” and “NCIS: Los Angeles,” said he will star as the “everyday Joe,” a character named Joe Michaels. Benfield is also producing the project through his company LAMA Entertainment.
The project will be Quaid’s first since 2018, according to his IMDb page. The Oscar-nominated actor had memorable roles in the “National Lampoon’s Vacation” franchise, “Independence Day,” “Kingpin,” “Freaked,” “Major League II,” “Brokeback Mountain” and the “Elvis” TV miniseries, but fled to Canada in 2010 while facing criminal charges in California over vandalized property at a home he once owned. Quaid was arrested in Vermont upon returning to the U.S. in 2015, but as of 2021 the case in California was reportedly still active.
Randy Quaid attends FAN EXPO Chicago at Donald E. Stephens Convention Center on August 13, 2023 in Rosemont, Illinois.Daniel Boczarski/Getty Images
Chase, 80, is an Emmy-winning actor who was an original cast member on “Saturday Night Live” and starred in “National Lampoon’s Vacation,” “Caddyshack,” “Fletch,” “Three Amigos,” “Community,” and the Syracuse-set “Snow Day.” He previously visited Syracuse in 2019 and Utica in 2021 for screenings of “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation.”
“He’s going to bring a really special comedic genius to a unique character that I’m really excited to bring to life,” Hunter said of Chase.
Chase and Quaid recently reunited with “Christmas Vacation” co-stars Beverly D’Angelo and Miriam Flynn at Christmas Con 2023 last month in New Jersey, according to People magazine. TMZ reports Chase and Quaid also appeared together at the Dallas Fan Expo in June; despite playing adversaries on screen, “they couldn’t have been kinder with each other in person.”
According to WKTV, “The Christmas Letter” will film scenes throughout the Mohawk Valley, including at the historic Hotel Utica. Writer-producer Michael Cunningham, an Ilion native who now lives in the Rochester area, said there will also be shots of Utica’s Fort Schuyler Club and Valley View Golf Course, plus Woods Valley ski area in Westernville.
The Rome Sentinel reports production is expected to begin in Utica this weekend and last through the month of January.
The project appears to be Hunter’s feature-length directorial debut. Hunter is a Georgia native who is currently based in Nashville, according to her website. Her IMDb credits include working as a script supervisor on 2019′s “Overcomer,” the 2020 Lifetime movie “A Welcome Home Christmas,” and the 2023 releases “Identity Crisis,” “The Great Turkey Town Miracle” (also starring Benfield), “Bringing Back Christmas” and “The Shift” (featuring Sean Astin and Syracuse University alumnus Neal McDonough).
A release date has not been announced for “The Christmas Letter,” but Cunningham told WKTV he hopes to do a movie premiere in Utica during the 2024 holiday season.
New film commission in Utica aims to make more movies in Central NY
American High Shorts: Funny videos shot in CNY reach millions as Gen Z ‘SNL’