Game of Thrones star to lead new holiday movie project

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By

Jake Hodges

Published May 8, 2026, 7:15 PM EDT

In over three years at Collider, senior author Jake has now penned over 2500 articles covering a wide range of TV and film for the resources, lists, utilities, news, and interview teams. Alongside interviewing stars such as Selin Hizli, Rose Ayling-Ellis, Harlan Coben, and Chelsea Peretti, Jake was lucky enough to visit the set of Aardman and Netflix's Wallace and Gromit: A Vengeance Most Fowl_ in 2024, getting the chance to chat with four-time Academy Award winner Nick Park and Merlin Crossingham. Jake has also worked for other publications, including Agents of Fandom. 

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HBO's Game of Thrones was the launchpad for several world-famous stars today. Acting as the global platform that many hugely talented performers had long yearned for, the acclaimed fantasy series introduced the world to the likes of Jason Momoa, Emilia Clarke, Kit Harington, Sophie Turner, and even the star of the upcoming _The Mandalorian and Grogu, _****Pedro Pascal. Some of these stars were already known for their previous work, but it was_ Game of Thrones_ that turned them into household favorites.

A similar story can be attributed to Mark Addy, who starred as King Robert in the opening season of_ Game of Thrones_. Addy was certainly a recognizable name prior to the series, thanks to roles in the likes of the sitcom _Still Standing _and 1997's The Full Monty, but Game of Thrones established him as a multi-generational favorite across the U.S. Most recently, Addy has starred in Dune: Prophecy as Evgeny Harkonnen, and will join Michael Sheen and David Tennant in the final chapter of Good Omens.

Alongside these projects, Collider can exclusively reveal that Addy is set to headline an upcoming dark comedy feature with a festive twist, titled First Christmas. Directed by Keith Wilhelm Kopp and written by Laurence Guy, following the pair's success with their award-winning debut feature Translations, First Christmas is described by the duo as "a darkly comic exploration of human connection during a time of heightened expectation and emotional intensity." The movie is set to be presented at the upcoming Cannes Film Market, with an eye to securing funding and beginning principal photography in early Fall 2026.

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COLLIDER Collider · Quiz

Collider Exclusive · Sci-Fi Personality Quiz Which Sci-Fi Hero_ Are You Most Like? Paul Atreides · Captain Kirk · Princess Leia · Ellen Ripley · Max Rockatansky

Five iconic heroes. Five completely different ways of facing an impossible universe. One of them shares your instincts, your values, and your particular way of refusing to back down. Eight questions will tell you which one.

🏜️Paul Atreides 🖖Capt. Kirk ✊Princess Leia 🔦Ellen Ripley 🔥Max Rockatansky

FIND YOUR HERO →

QUESTION 1 / 8LEADERSHIP

01 How do you lead when the stakes couldn't be higher? The way you lead under pressure is the most honest thing about you.

AI absorb everything — every variable, every pattern — and move only when I know the path forward. BI read the room, make the call, and own the consequences. Hesitation costs more than mistakes. CI rally people. A cause needs a voice, and I refuse to let fear be louder than conviction. DI assess the threat, establish what needs doing, and get it done without waiting for permission. EI don't lead. I act. Others can follow or not — I'm already moving.

NEXT QUESTION →

QUESTION 2 / 8STRENGTH

02 What is your greatest strength in a crisis? The quality that keeps you alive when everything else fails.

APrescience — the ability to see further ahead than anyone else and plan accordingly. BImprovisation — I'm at my best when the plan falls apart and I have to invent a new one. CConviction — I know what I'm fighting for, and that certainty doesn't waver under fire. DComposure — I stay functional when everyone around me is falling apart. Panic is a luxury. EEndurance — I outlast things. I take the hit and keep moving long after others have stopped.

NEXT QUESTION →

QUESTION 3 / 8MOTIVATION

03 What is the thing you'd sacrifice everything else for? Your deepest motivation is your truest compass.

AThe survival and dignity of my people — even if I have to become something frightening to ensure it. BThe safety of my crew — every single one of them. No one gets left behind. CFreedom — for my people, for every world still crushed under the weight of an empire. DThe truth — what actually happened, what's actually out there, whether anyone believes me or not. EThe one person — or the one memory — that still makes any of this worth surviving for.

NEXT QUESTION →

QUESTION 4 / 8PEOPLE

04 How do you relate to the people around you? Who you are to others under pressure is who you really are.

AWith intensity and distance — I care deeply, but the weight I carry makes closeness complicated. BWith warmth and irreverence — I take the mission seriously, not myself. CWith directness and trust — I say what I mean, and I expect the people I work with to rise to it. DWith professional care but clear limits — I'll protect you, but I won't pretend we're family. EWith wariness that slowly becomes loyalty — I don't trust easily, but when I do, it holds.

NEXT QUESTION →

QUESTION 5 / 8THREAT

05 You're facing a threat that no one else believes is real. What do you do? How you respond when you're the only one who sees it defines everything.

APrepare in silence. If they won't listen, I'll be ready when they finally have to. BKeep pushing until someone listens — and if no one does, handle it myself. CBuild the case, find the allies, and make the threat impossible to ignore. DDocument everything. The truth matters even if no one believes it yet. EStop trying to convince anyone. Survive it. That's the only argument that counts.

NEXT QUESTION →

QUESTION 6 / 8COST

06 What has your heroism cost you personally? Every hero pays. The question is what — and whether they'd pay it again.

AMy innocence — I've seen what I'm capable of, and I can't unsee it. BPeople I loved — the command chair has a view, but it's a lonely one. CA normal life — I gave up everything ordinary the moment I chose the cause. DMy sense of safety — I know exactly what's out there now, and I can't pretend otherwise. EAlmost everything — and I'm still not sure what I'm carrying it all for. But I keep going.

NEXT QUESTION →

QUESTION 7 / 8RULES

07 How do you feel about the rules of the world you're in? Every hero has a relationship with the system. What's yours?

AI understand them deeply — and I know exactly which ones must be broken, and why. BI respect the spirit of them and bend the letter when the situation demands it. CThe system is the problem. I'm not here to work within it — I'm here to dismantle it. DI follow protocol until protocol stops being useful. Then I make the call myself. EThe rules collapsed a long time ago. What's left is instinct, and mine are reliable.

NEXT QUESTION →

QUESTION 8 / 8PURPOSE

08 When everything is on the line, what keeps you going? The answer is the most honest thing about you.

ADestiny — or something that feels so much like it that the difference no longer matters. BThe people on my ship — their faces, their trust, the fact that they're counting on me. CThe belief that what we're fighting for is worth every sacrifice, including this one. DSheer refusal to let it win — whatever it is. I don't stop. That's just who I am. EI'm not sure anymore. But the road is still there, and I'm still on it.

REVEAL MY HERO →

Your Hero Has Been Identified Your Sci-Fi Hero Is… Your answers point to the iconic sci-fi hero who shares your instincts, your values, and your particular way of facing the impossible.

Arrakis · Dune

Paul Atreides You carry a weight most people would crumble under — the knowledge of what you're capable of, and the burden of what you might have to become.

• You see further ahead than others and you plan accordingly, even when the vision frightens you.

• You are driven by loyalty to your people and a sense of destiny you didn't ask for but can't escape.

• Paul Atreides is not simply a hero — he is someone who understands the cost of power and chooses to bear it anyway.

• That gravity, that willingness to carry what others won't, is exactly you.

USS Enterprise · Star Trek

Captain Kirk You lead with instinct, warmth, and an absolute refusal to accept a no-win scenario — because you've always believed there's a third option nobody else has thought of yet.

• You take the mission seriously without ever taking yourself too seriously.

• Your crew would follow you anywhere, not because you demand it, but because you've earned it.

• Kirk's genius isn't tactical — it's human. He reads people, bends rules with purpose, and wills outcomes into existence through sheer conviction.

• That combination of warmth, audacity, and relentless optimism is unmistakably yours.

The Rebellion · Star Wars

Princess Leia You are the kind of person who holds the line when everyone else is losing faith — not because you're fearless, but because giving up simply isn't something you're capable of.

• You lead through conviction. Your voice carries because your belief is unshakeable.

• You gave up everything ordinary the moment you chose the cause, and you've never looked back.

• Leia is not a supporting character in her own story — she is the moral centre of the entire rebellion.

• That same fierce, principled, unbreakable core is what defines you.

The Nostromo · Alien

Ellen Ripley You are not reckless, not grandiose, and not particularly interested in being anyone's hero — you just refuse to stop when it matters.

• You see threats clearly, you document the truth even when no one listens, and when the time comes you handle it yourself.

• Ripley's heroism is earned, not performed. She doesn't have a speech — she has a flamethrower and a plan.

• You share her composure under the worst possible pressure, and her refusal to pretend the monster isn't there.

• When it counts, you don't flinch. That's everything.

The Wasteland · Mad Max

Max Rockatansky You have been through fire that would break most people — and what came out the other side is something the world underestimates at its peril.

• You don't ask for help, don't need validation, and don't wait for anyone to tell you the rules no longer apply.

• Your loyalty, when it finally arrives, is absolute — but it's earned in silence and tested in action, not in words.

• Max is not a nihilist. He is someone who lost everything and found, against his will, that he still has something worth protecting.

• That bruised, stubborn, ultimately human core is exactly yours.

↻ RETAKE THE QUIZ

'First Christmas' Boasts an Impressive Cast

Addy is one of many exciting names attached to the_ First Christmas_ cast, with Collider able to exclusively reveal the movie's line-up. Joining Addy are Russell Tovey (Years & Years, Being Human), **Eleanor Tomlinson **of Poldark fame, fellow_ Game of Thrones_ alum Dean-Charles Chapman, Yasmin Al-Khudhairi (A Good Girl's Guide To Murder), Samuel Anderson (The History Boys), Ian McNeice (Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls), and even the Taskmaster's assistant himself, Alex Horne. The project is being produced by Luke Allen (Ask Seek Knock, Telford) alongside executive producer Alyssa Roehrenbeck (The Saviours, Wishful Thinking).

Mark Addy, Russell Tovey, Eleanor Tomlinson, and more are lining up for the dark comedy First Christmas. Check out the film's poster below and make sure to stay tuned to Collider for more exciting exclusives.

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Game Of Thrones

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Drama

Action

Adventure

Fantasy

Release Date**

2011 - 2019-00-00

Showrunner

David Benioff, D.B. Weiss

Directors

David Nutter, Alan Taylor, D.B. Weiss, David Benioff

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Kit Harington

Jon Snow

Isaac Hempstead Wright

Brandon Bran Stark

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Writers

D.B. Weiss, George R.R. Martin, David Benioff

Franchise(s)

Game of Thrones

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David Benioff, D.B.