A Kaiju Christmas Carol

A Kaiju Christmas Carol is a 2018 British-American steampunk monster film directed by Joe Wright. The film is an adaptation of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol mixed with the kaiju genre.

Synopsis
Ebeneezer Scrooge, a surly aging tin mine owner, is caught in the middle of three titanic monsters three nights before Christmas, who inadvertently help to make Scrooge a better man.

Plot
In 1850's England, one prone to attacks by giant monsters dubbed kaiju, Ebeneezer Scrooge is the owner of the Scrooge-Lemont tin mine in Cornwall, as well as the supplier for the Foundry belonging to his business partner. Bad-tempered and arrogant, he views nature and kaiju as evil savage compared to man. He declines his nephew Fred Holywell's invitation to a Christmas dinner party in the countryside, and rejects a message by the local government to help with the aftermath of the most recent kaiju attack. Scrooge reluctantly agrees to give his employees, such as Bob Cratchit, a payed day off with his family.

As Scrooge has a meal later that night during a blizzard, he suddenly finds himself attacked by a strange man with milky white skin, who identifies himself as James Marley, Scrooge's old mine foreman. He raves at Scrooge about how his selfish ways have made him as bad as the kaiju and that three infernal beasts will hunt him down if he won't repent and change his ways. Scrooge initially dismisses it as a hallucination, but soon starts to have his doubts, when a kaiju siren sounds at 1:00 AM - Golowjius, a 55-yard long kaiju has emerged from the sea and is heading along the beach to Scrooge's street and to the foundry. As soldiers both from the Navy and several militias, including his own, attempt to repel the kaiju, Scrooge refuses to let people into the mansion as a safehouse, instead cowering in his basement. He suddenly finds himself having a PTSD flashback to his days a soldier when a.

Scrooge wakes up later that morning, with much of the harbour area in ruins, excluding his own home. He nevertheless remains highly, going to the bank, to pay for insurance money and to sue the. However, it turns out a giant boar dubbed Kibajua, with its piglets in tow, are outside his house.

Scrooge takes refugee in Bob's house. Finally, Bob snaps and assaults him over his selfishness before being thrown out of the house.

The day after, a good chunk of city is in ruins thanks to the

Scrooge launches the cannon at

Scrooge wakes up again, this time in the hospital on Christmas Day. After arriving home, he is informed that he will be due in court for negligence and, though he decides to start making up for his avaricious life. He ventures out with the charity workers and the citizens of London to spread happiness in the now-rebuilding city, eventually heading to Bob Crachit's house to apologise and offer him turkey as a gift. Scrooge, now treating everyone with kindness, generosity, and compassion, celebrates Christmas night with the Cratchits and Honeywells. Later, as the kaiju leave, Scrooge walks right up to them.

Cast

 * Peter Capaldi as Ebeneezer Scrooge, a stingy and bitter mine owner whose town is attacked by three kaiju
 * Andrew-Lee Potts as Bob Cratchit, a mine worker at the Scrooge-Lemot Mine, as well as a soldier in the
 * TBD as Belladonna Crachit,
 * TBD as Tim Cratchit, Bob's son, who has been infected with a strain of
 * Simon Pegg as Fred Holywell
 * TBD as Reilly O'morgan, the Irish-American leader of Scrooge's private militia
 * TBD as James Marley, Scooge's old business partner and mine foreman, now a troglodytic creature.
 * TBD as Joseph Haliburton, an associate/rival to Scrooge, who runs the Powell Foundry.
 * TBD as  Mrs. Melanie Dilber
 * TBD as Bishop Lourie

Kaiju Featured

 * Golowjius - a massive lizard-like kaiju with the ability to shoot magnetic serum.
 * Kibajua - a titanic 162-ton wild boar sow who stores a sweet-tasting substance called shokuheiwa in its fur, originally from Japan.
 * - Kibajua's offspring.
 * - a large mutated rat created by
 * - massive grasshoppers created by.
 * Stymphalides - a massive stork-like bird that is attracted to Scrooge's slag.
 * Giant Mole - a titanic cynodont (though identified as a mole in the film) that emerged from the Scrooge-Lemont Mine.
 * Cancerius - a massive crab seen in the begining.
 * Barugon and Mothra - Mothra from Godzilla and Barugon from Gamera appear in a Japanese woodblock print in Scrooge's mansion.

Crew

 * Produced by
 * Tim Haines
 * Executive Produced by:
 * Production Design by
 * Creature Design by
 * Costume Design by Colleen Atwood
 * Cinematography by Seamus McGarvey
 * Cinematography by Seamus McGarvey

Production
Gary Oldman was to play Scrooge, even though Scrooge was written with Peter Capaldi being casted in mind. Ralph Fiennes, Hugh Grant, and were also considered.

Each kaiju had elements taken from the original ghosts. Kibajua's rotund form and shokuheiwa was directly inspired by the Ghost of Christmas Present and the

Various designs for each kaiju were considered.
 * Kibajua at one point was going to be a giant deer named Balaichia, as a reference to Santa's Reindeer
 * Golowjius, originally known as either the Biscay, Baffin, or Brighton Behemoth, and shifted size.

Filming began in and.

Influence
Screenwriters took influence from previous Christmas Carol adaptations for the movie's tone, namely the 1984 made-for-TV adaptation and. For the kaiju scenes, Gorgo and the 2014 Godzilla film were used as reference by Frameworks. The steampunk aesthetics included in the film were inspired by.

Music
John Lunn composed the score. The film marks Lunn's cinematic debut for him.

Differences between Book and Film
A Kaiju Christmas Carol diverges heavily from the source material, so as to help differentiate it.
 * The movie's setting is that of an unknown city in the 1850s, whereas the book's setting is that of London in the 1840s, when the book was published.
 * Scrooge is a mining baron rather than a miser.
 * James Marley (renamed from Jacob Marley) is alive, albeit mutated.
 * Scrooge physically interacts with Bob's family during the present and future segments.

Reception
A Kaiju Christmas Carol received positive reviews, with critics praising its visuals and cinematography. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a score of 78% averaging 6.9/10, reading "

Notes/Trivia

 * Originally
 * A Kaiju Christmas Carol is