Regina Hall Joins Jennifer Aniston and Peter Dinklage in Olivia Wilde’s Christmas Comedy ‘Naughty’

Christmas 2027 just got a lot funnier. Regina Hall is joining Jennifer Aniston and Peter Dinklage in Naughty, Universal’s holiday comedy from director Olivia Wilde, Deadline revealed on Oct. 7 — adding one of the year’s hottest comedy stars to an already loaded ensemble.

LOS ANGELES — Hall, 55, will join the already-booked Aniston, 57, and Dinklage in the Universal film, Parade reported, with the studio holding Naughty for a theatrical release on November 5, 2027. Wilde is directing from a script by Jimmy Warden, the Cocaine Bear screenwriter who originally wrote the project as a spec before Universal picked it up for full production, per ComingSoon. Margot Robbie, Tom Ackerley and Josey McNamara are set to produce through LuckyChap.

The premise is one of the year’s best high concepts: Aniston plays Mallory, whose only hope of securing custody of her son from her ex is to find Santa Claus (Dinklage) and convince him to testify in her divorce hearing. While Hall’s exact role hasn’t been officially confirmed, Deadline’s sources say she plays a friend joining Aniston on the trip to the North Pole. The film has been described as Bridesmaids with a touch of Bad Santa and a Young Adult vibe, ComingSoon noted — which tells you exactly what register of comedy Wilde is aiming for.

That register makes sense for everyone involved. Aniston has genuine Christmas-comedy bona fides from Office Christmas Party; Dinklage had a beloved supporting turn in Elf; and Wilde even appeared in the ensemble holiday comedy Love the Coopers. Naughty will be Wilde’s fourth feature as a director, following Booksmart, Don’t Worry Darling and this year’s The Invite, ComingSoon noted. The Invite — Wilde’s dinner-party comedy starring herself opposite Seth Rogen, Penélope Cruz and Edward Norton — was the subject of a Sundance bidding war and has earned roughly $31 million worldwide on a 97% Rotten Tomatoes score, making it one of the best-reviewed comedies of the year, MovieWeb reported. The success of The Invite is what pushed Universal to move fast on Naughty, with Wilde said to have always had Aniston and Dinklage in mind for the two leads.

But the real story of this casting is Hall, who is having the kind of year actors dream about. She starred in Paul Thomas Anderson’s Oscar-winning One Battle After Another alongside Leonardo DiCaprio, Sean Penn and Benicio Del Toro, Parade noted — a film that put her in the awards conversation. She then co-starred in Peacock’s The Five-Star Weekend, based on Elin Hilderbrand’s 2023 novel and co-starring Jennifer Garner, which reportedly became Peacock’s top scripted title of all time. And then she reprised her iconic role as Brenda Meeks in Scary Movie 6, which Deadline noted is the year’s top-grossing R-rated comedy. Prestige drama, streaming phenomenon, and a record-setting comedy in a single calendar year — Hall has range, and she has receipts.

That range is exactly why this casting works. Naughty’s premise needs a performer who can play grounded enough to anchor a custody-battle emotional core and unhinged enough to sell a North Pole road trip. Hall has spent her career proving she can do both — often in the same scene. Putting her next to Aniston, one of the great screen comedians of the last three decades, gives the film a best-friend duo with real chemistry potential, and putting them both opposite Dinklage’s Santa sets up a comic trio with obvious upside.

The November 5, 2027 date puts Naughty in an early-holiday showdown: it will open opposite Warner Bros.’ animated Christmas musical Margie Claus, with Melissa McCarthy starring as Saint Nick’s wife, ComingSoon reported. It’s a classic holiday counterprogramming play — raunchy live-action ensemble comedy against family animation — and Universal clearly believes the Aniston-Dinklage-Hall trio can hold the grown-up lane. With more than a year until release, the project is still in the casting phase, but the three leads are the kind of package that suggests Universal is treating this as a marquee holiday title rather than a schedule-filler.

For Hall, it continues a run that has quietly made her one of the most in-demand actors in Hollywood. From the Scary Movie franchise that made her a star, through Girls Trip, to an Anderson picture and now a Wilde holiday tentpole, her filmography reads like a masterclass in career management — mainstream comedy credibility, prestige validation, and streaming dominance, all stacked in the same 12 months. The North Pole trip is just the latest stop.

For more film news, see the first teaser for Mike Flanagan’s The Exorcist: Martyrs and our coverage of Jesse Eisenberg’s NYFF premiere.