North Pole (film series)

North Pole is an American epic high fantasy war multimedia franchise and shared fictional universe owned by Warner Bros. Pictures. The franchise includes films and other media, including television series, books, comics and theme park attractions.

The franchise began with the original 2014 film directed by Bill Condon, which received positive reception from critics and audiences, and became a commercial success with a gross of $766 million. The film was followed by a two installments, North Pole Part Two, also directed by Condon, was released on December 1, 2017 and North Pole Part Three, directed by Alfonso Cuarón, was relesed on December 8, 2020, both grossing over $1 billion. A spin-off film directed by Cuarón, North Pole's Greenwich, was released on November 24, 2023, and grossed $980.7 million, with three installments in various stages of production.

The film series has received "almost unanimous" critical positive reception and has been commercially successful; two films in the series have grossed more than $1 billion each. Grossing $3.7 billion worlwide is the 15th-highest-grossing film series of all time. A theme park attraction is set to open sometime in the 2020s, and Warner Bros. is deeloping an untitled television series.

Premise
The North Pole film series depicts a fictional universe based on Christmas folklore, where a massive war broke out in the 1910s between the opposing forces of Santa Claus and Krampus. The main installments tell us the events of the conflict (typically named as 'The War' or 'The North Pole War') between 1915 and 1921; the beginning, periods of war, and primary Allied victory, with parallels to World War I (which presumably takes place at the same time in human society). The World War II and Cold War is also sometimes alluded to, and other high-profile war conflicts of the 20th century are used as references and parallels in other media throughout the franchise.

Main series
The main North Pole film series is a trilogy released from 2014 to 2020. Each installment chronicles the sequence of events that occurred in the 'North Pole War' between the years 1915 and 1921. The films explained the reasons for the conflict, with Santa Claus as a semi-recurring/main character and Krampus's destructive actions, all under the eyes of elven 'soldiers' in the troops.

North Pole (2014)
In a cold, desolate and turbulent time at the North Pole after the christmas dissolution thanks to the Great Human War, a massive deadly conflict breaks out and looms over the Snowy North thanks to the opposing side of 'Krampus' against the forces of Santa Claus. North Pole was directed by Bill Condon and released on December 5, 2014. It became a critical and box office success, considered one of the biggest "surprises" of the year.

North Pole Part Two (2017)
It is year 1918. It has been 3 years since the allied forces from the north, including Claus and his faithful elves, began a brutal fight against Krampus and his deadly military and guerrilla lines. The great conflict, which had expanded to a front across all the arctic islands, is now directly attacking the snowy forts of Greater Greenland. North Pole Part Two also directed by Condon was released worldwide on December 1, 2017, with a worldwide re-release on April 7, 2018. It became another critical success, as well as the first film in the series to raise $1 billion.

North Pole Part Three (2020)
It's been 3 years after the invasion of Greenland and the boiling of the conflict in front of the Opponents and Krampus makes the southeast territory the cusp of the end of the conflict. Claus and his elves are moving east, preparing for the last battles of the Great War. North Pole Part Three was directed by Alfonso Cuarón and was released in theaters beginning December 4, 2020. It was the second film in the series to gross $1 billion and the third consecutive critical success.

Sequel series
Several spin-off/sequel films began development before the main trilogy was completed. Each installment is set after the main events of the series, following the consequences, conflicts and actions left by the Great War.

Greenwich (2023)
The first installment, Greenwich, was released on November 24, 2023 to favorable reviews and box office success. Tells of the special mission of a group of allied elven nicknamed 'Greenwich' who travels to Novaya Zemlya (Aka: Greenwich) island off the Russian coast to eradicate a surviving system of "Souls clippers". The film is set 9 months after North Pole Three in 1922, and is loosely based on the Catasthrophe of Convoy PQ 17, Operation Wunderland, and the numerous Nuclear Tests by the Soviet Union.

Future films
Warner Bros. is developing that multiple North Pole spin-off films announced in a press release in September 2020. The second spin-off film is planned for release on December 26, 2025. Two other untitled films are in development with release dates of 2027 and 2029.

Television
Following the premiere of North Pole Part Three in 2020, a live television miniseries was announced in early development to launch on HBO Max, with a tentative premiere date of 2024. An animated microseries has also been considered.

Books
In 2015, after the release of the first film, Rob Kidd became interested in creating canonical books to accompany the franchise. From 2016 to 2020, a general terminology was created for all canon narrative material released alongside the trilogy, with side stories, prequels, and sequels to the films in the different books, without directly clashing with their narrative; the first book was North Pole's The Alpha. This medium, along with the shorts released in 2017 and 2020, were collectively known as Spirit, inspired by the faithful circle of S. Claus in the movies of the series. Additionally, novelizations and art books were released for each film, which are also considered completely canon. They were used to tell additional stories about existing characters, without expanding the universe or introducing new concepts.