EXCLUSIVE: Monarch Media has enlisted Kali Bailey to adapt the screenplay for The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus, a live-action feature adaptation of the children’s book by L. Frank Baum.

First published in 1902, Baum’s book follows Santa Claus from an abandoned baby in a magical forest near Oz, to his beloved role of spreading peace, love and lots of toys at Christmastime. Recognized as one of the greatest fantasy writers of the 20th century, Baum is best known for his 14-book series, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, which of course inspired the 1939 film classic The Wizard of Oz.

Monarch principals Steve Barnett, Alan Powell and Vicky Patel will produce the new movie.

This isn’t Bailey’s first time working with the Monarch Media team, having co-written the company’s coming-of-age film A Week Away, which spawned the Angel Network series of the same name. She went on to co-direct multiple episodes of the spinoff series and also wrote and directed the Angel Network sci-fi film The Lightning Code.

Speaking to the origins of the Life and Adventures movie, Monarch’s Barnett said: “I’ve been obsessed with the origins of Santa Claus for a long time, so discovering that the incredible L. Frank Baum had explored that backstory was really exciting. Santa is one of the few fictional, global icons, and this story taps into that shared mythology. Kali has created a sweeping, four-quadrant adventure that feels timeless yet fresh—a big, emotional ride that will connect with everyone around the world, across cultures and generations.”

Monarch’s credits include producing the Richard Linklater film Hit Man, starring Glen Powell, and the animated feature Tangles, starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Bryan Cranston, Seth Rogen and others, which premiered to critical acclaim at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. Their comedy Babies, directed by Lauren Miller Rogen, and starring Seth Rogen, Anna Kendrick, David Strathairn, Sharon Stone, Ed Helms and Issa Rae, is slated to premiere at the upcoming Toronto Film Festival and will be released theatrically this fall.

Monarch is also producing an untitled Nick Jonas holiday rom-com for Netflix, to be directed by Ari Sandal, and is currently prepping a remake of coming-of-age film A Walk to Remember.

Bailey is repped by First Story Entertainment and attorney Joshua Lastine of Lastine Entertainment Law.

Yahya Abdul-Mateen II shares his take on the online discourse over Disney and Marvel’s decision to cancel Wonder Man after one season, and the continued postponement of the Blade reboot.

In a new interview, the actor is asked about the conjecture that fans are making about the Disney+ series and the Marvel superhero film, both led by Black men.

“I think the optics are obvious. If I’m a big business, if I’m Disney, if I’m Marvel, I don’t want to be attached to these optics,” Abdul-Mateen told Vanity Fair. “So it should be a priority to change that narrative and to do what it takes to responsibly change that narrative with quality stories, with quality resources.”

He continued, “I felt that our show did have quality story, did have quality resources, did have quality actors and people, and did produce quality results that the viewers responded to positively, that the voters responded to positively. So our show does deserve some study and some real, hard information about why a show like this did not continue forward, because it had all of the ingredients that one would want in a show.”

Despite Marvel renewing Wonder Man for a second season, it recently announced that the studio had walked back on that renewal and the series would not move forward past Season 1.

Abdul-Mateen also recently earned an Emmy nomination for his work on the Disney+ series.

Similarly, the Blade reboot, which had Mahershala Ali attached to star, has been stuck in development for years, and Marvel’s Kevin Feige recently stated he felt “like a gigantic loser and failure” for not being able to get it done.

Ali subsequently called out Marvel and said that if the studio “wanted to do it, we would’ve done it,” adding, “I have to move on, and I have moved on.”

Marvel first confirmed the Blade reboot with Ali back in 2019, but the project has since been met with multiple delays, including directors Bassam Tariq and Yann Demange’s exits from the film and the 2023 WGA strike.