Tis the season to be jolly now that the world premiere of Prime Video’s Candy Cane Lane, starring comedic actor Eddie Murphy and actress Tracee Ellis Ross, has finally arrived on Friday, Dec. 1.
Candy Cane Lane is a family-friendly comedy-adventure film doused in holiday cheer. It tells the tale of a desperate man named Chris (Murphy) who signs his life away in a deal with a naughty elf named Pepper (Jillian Bell) to improve his chances of winning his neighborhood’s annual Christmas home decoration contest.
Unbeknownst to Chris, destruction would follow as Pepper casts a spell that brings the actual 12 Days of Christmas to life and wreaks havoc on his town. Chris, his wife Carol (Ross) and his three children must race against the clock to break Pepper’s spell and save Christmas.
Playwright Kelly Younger devised the storyline inspired by his experiences visiting Candy Cane Lane in El Segundo, CA, during the holidays.
Candy Cane Lane is technically Murphy’s first Christmas movie, despite some people regarding Trading Places (1983) as one, and reunites the Coming to America actor with his Boomerang (1992) director Reginald Hudlin and producer Brian Grazer for the first time since the blockbuster.
The holiday film stars walked the red-carpeted premiere at the Regency Village Theatre in Los Angeles on Tuesday night, Nov. 28, sharing their behind-the-scenes experiences.
“We had a ball,” Ross said. “It was cold. It was actually very seasonal. It was the time period when it snowed in LA, so it was perfect. We were very much in the Christmas spirit. What a cast! We were laughing a lot. It was fantastic!”
Ross, a fan of Murphy’s, cherished working with the legendary and “wonderfully generous” actor, recalling how they would “sit in between takes in front of the heaters” swapping stories.
“I felt like I had to bring my best storytelling forward! But we had a ball,” the 51-year-old actress said.
At the premiere, Murphy said Younger’s unique storyline compelled him to take the starring role.
“That’s what made me want to do it! It was unique,” the 62-year-old Beverly Hills Cop actor commented. “Kelly Younger wrote something unique, and I hadn’t done a Christmas movie, so this is a great, unique thing to do. And it came out good!”
David Alan Grier, Chris Redd, Anjelah Johnson, D.C. Young Fly, Danielle Pinnock, Robin Thede Thaddeus J. Mixon and Genneya Walton star in Candy Cane Lane alongside Ross and Murphy.
R&B singer-songwriter Chloe Bailey recorded two Christmas covers — “Last Christmas” and “Merry Christmas Baby” — for the beginning and end of the movie, which she performed during NBC’s Rockefeller Tree Lighting on Thursday, Nov. 30.
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