A Sudden Case of Christmas: release date, cast, plot, trailer and everything we know

A Sudden Case of Christmas stars Danny DeVito and Andie MacDowell.
A Sudden Case of Christmas stars Danny DeVito and Andie MacDowell. (Image credit: Sky Cinema)

A Sudden Case of Christmas is a feelgood festive film with Danny DeVito heading up the cast. Set in the middle of summer, Danny plays hotelier and doting grandfather Lawrence Armanetti who each year hosts his extended family for Christmas in his grand hotel in the Italian Dolomites.

However, it seems this year will be far from the picture-perfect get-together he loves as, in the summer, he learns his daughter and her husband are splitting up. His granddaughter Claire (Antonella Rose) suspects that this year’s festive trip may be canceled and insists on having one last family Christmas together. In the midst of the chaos, Claire and her grandfather hatch a plan to get her warring parents back together.

Here's everything you need to know about the festive flick A Sudden Case of Christmas

A Sudden Case of Christmas release date

A Sudden Case of Christmas will premiere in the UK on Sky Cinema Premiere and NOW on Sunday December 8 2024. The movie has been available in the US on digital platforms since November 7 2024.

Is there a trailer? 

Yes the trailer for A Sudden Case of Christmas shows granddaughter Claire saying, ‘as long as there’s love, there’s Christmas’. But it appears that may not be the case this year. We see her parents at war and her granddad Lawrence determined to make Claire’s wish come true, by giving her one last Christmas as a family, in the middle of August.

A Sudden Case Of Christmas - Official Trailer - YouTube A Sudden Case Of Christmas - Official Trailer - YouTube
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A Sudden Case of Christmas plot

Every Christmas Lawrence (Danny DeVito) hosts his extended family at his hotel in the Italian mountains. So, he’s surprised when his daughter and son-in-law turn up in the middle of summer. They announce that they are splitting up so their devastated 10-year-old daughter Claire (Antonella Rose) asks if they can have one last Christmas at the hotel as a family. She hopes to persuade her parents to reconcile but can she really create enough Christmas magic in the middle of August?

A Sudden Case of Christmas cast — Danny DeVito as Lawrence Armanetti

Danny DeVito plays the kindly grandfather and hotel owner Lawrence Armanetti. Danny previously found fame as grumpy cab dispatcher Louie De Palma in the hit US comedy series Taxi which ran from 1978 to 1983. He appeared in hit movies like One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest, Romancing the Stone, Terms of Endearment, Twins and The War of the Roses. He’s also starred as the Penguin in Batman Returns, plus Matilda, Get Shorty, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia and Beetlejuice.

Glenn Howerton, Kaitlin Olson, Charlie Day, Danny DeVito, Rob McElhenney

It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia cast Glenn Howerton, Kaitlin Olson, Charlie Day, Danny DeVito (second from right), Rob McElhenney. (Image credit: Patrick McElhenney/FX)

Who else is starring?

A Sudden Case of Christmas also stars Andie MacDowell plays Rose, Claire’s paternal grandmother while Clare is played by Antonella Rose. Lucy DeVito (Danny’s daughter) plays Abbie while Line of Duty’s Adrian Dunbar, Francesco Salvi, Roderick Hill, Valeria Cavalli and Tommaso Sacco also star.

Nicholas Cannon
TV Content Director on TV Times, What's On TV and TV & Satellite Week

I'm a huge fan of television so I really have found the perfect job, as I've been writing about TV shows, films and interviewing major television, film and sports stars for over 25 years. I'm currently TV Content Director on What's On TV, TV Times, TV and Satellite Week magazines plus Whattowatch.com. I previously worked on Woman and Woman's Own in the 1990s. Outside of work I swim every morning, support Charlton Athletic football club and get nostalgic about TV shows Cagney & Lacey, I Claudius, Dallas and Tenko. I'm totally on top of everything good coming up too.

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