Fred Claus is a 2007 American Christmas comedy film directed by David Dobkin, screenplay and a story by Dan Fogelman and Jessie Nelson, and starring Vince Vaughn, Paul Giamatti, Miranda Richardson, John Michael Higgins, Elizabeth Banks, Rachel Weisz, Kathy Bates, and Kevin Spacey. The film was first announced in October 2005 with Mike Mitchell attached to direct. The film was released in the United States on November 9, 2007 by Warner Bros. Pictures. It is loosely based on the poem "A legend of Santa and his brother Fred" written by Donald Henkel. It received negative reviews from critics and grossed $97 million worldwide against the production budget of $100 million.
Plot
In the mid-19th century, young Frederick Claus grows up in the shadow of his younger brother Nicholas. Nick's selfless and kind attitude constantly wins the approval of his family over Fred, causing a strained relationship that is permanently damaged when Nick cuts down a tree, inadvertently destroying the bird house in which Fred's bird Chirp Chirp lived in. Due to Nick's saint-like personality, he is deemed a "Saint", and the family is gifted with immortality.
In the present, Nick has become the modern-day Santa Claus, delivering gifts to the children of the world. Fred has become a repossession agent in Chicago. Fred lives alone and is friends with orphan Samuel "Slam" Gibbons. After his girlfriend Wanda breaks up with him, Fred is fired and arrested for impersonating a Salvation Army employee in an attempt to raise seed money for an illegal casino plan. Fred asks Nick for bail and seed money. Nick only agrees on the condition that Fred comes to the North Pole to work for the money.
Head Elf Willie escorts Fred to the North Pole. Nick gives Fred the task of assigning children as "naughty" or "nice" based on their behavior. Efficiency expert Clyde Northcutt, from the agency which monitors the activities of supernatural entities, arrives to analyze the North Pole's dwindling performance on a three-strike assessment. Fred picks a fight with the workshop's DJ Donnie after he plays "Here Comes Santa Claus" on repeat, causing disruption that leads to Northcutt assigning the first strike. Nick sandbags Fred into having dinner that evening with their parents.
Later that night, Northcutt shreds the children's letters. Fred is blamed for "losing" the letters, and the lack of backup copies leads to a second strike. Not believing Fred's denials, Nick has security abduct Fred, and bring him to an intervention, attended by their parents, Nick's wife Annette, Wanda, and a psychologist. Angered by Fred's self-centeredness and his obnoxious attitude, Wanda leaves him; Fred insults Nick and lambasts his parents for having favoritism. Following the intervention, Fred sees Slam on the top spot of the Naughty List; Fred realizes that Slam's bad behavior is a consequence of being bullied at the orphanage (along with some bad advice he gave him), and that Slam is a good kid. Fred then returns to his office and assigns every child as "nice".
The brothers get into a fight over Fred's decision, with Nick injuring his back. Unable to now produce enough gifts for every good child, the North Pole falls far behind schedule, leading Northcutt to assign the third strike, shutting down the workshop. Fred leaves, taking his money and a gift from Nick. Back in Chicago, Fred attends a meeting with the siblings of other celebrities in an attempt to sort out his issues. Fred opens his gift: a replica of the birdhouse Chirp Chirp lived in and a note from Nick apologizing for cutting down the tree. With a change of heart, Fred uses the seed money to make his way back to the North Pole.
Fred motivates the elves to make as many gifts as possible. Because of his injury, Nick is unable to deliver gifts. Feeling guilty, Fred decides to deliver the presents (as only a Claus can deliver the gifts). He reminds Nick that most of the "naughty" kids aren't bad, but good kids going through bad situations, and that every child deserves a gift on Christmas. Fred gets the workshop to quickly make simple gifts so that every child gets a toy. Fred and Willie begin to deliver the gifts, but Northcutt sabotages their efforts and fires the elves. Nick realizes that Northcutt was also bullied as a child, which caused him to become troubled. Nick apologizes to Northcutt for putting him at the top of the Naughty List in 1968 and gives him the Superman cape he had asked for as a child.