Santa’s Southern Hemisphere Twin Tayta Noel Gets Feature Treatment in ‘The Other Brother: A Christmas Story’ (EXCLUSIVE)

Hangtime International Pictures have unveiled “The Other Brother: A Christmas Story,” a new original Christmas comedy feature project currently in development with Rain4est.

“The Other Brother” is the story of Santa’s lesser-known southern hemisphere-based twin brother. Inspired by Leonidas McNeill’s popular picture book “Tayta Noel: La Historia de la Otra Navidad,” the film follows Betty, a young girl who is displaced from her wintery home in New York to sunny Peru for the Christmas holiday. There, she learns about Santa’s twin, Tayta Claus.

The live-action comedy will be produced by Mijael Garrido Lecca, Kiana Maggiolo and Adolfo Franco of Rain4est, alongside Hangtime’s Co-CEO Frida Torresblanco and producing partner and CEO Frank Murray. It will feature mostly English-language dialogue with some Spanish sections throughout its runtime.

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According to Hangtime, the film is a “vibrant, heartwarming tale, celebrating diversity and new traditions” as its young protagonist embraces her situation and learns about South American culture and traditions.

As an early accompaniment to the film, Rain4est is today publishing the book “The Two Claus Brothers” this week via Penguin Random House, a re-telling of the “Tayta Noel” origin story, expanded and written as prose for kids of all ages. Principal photography for the feature adaptation is planned for mid-2025.

Launched at Cannes earlier this year by BAFTA winner Frida Torresblanco and former Amazon MGM Studios U.K. head of scripted production Frank Murray, Hangtime has been assembling a pipeline that includes high-end film, series and documentary content. With offices in New York and London, the company is fostering partnerships on both sides of the Atlantic, including the likes of Rain4est, Rebel Park, and The Ink Factory, with whom they co-executive produce “The Night Manager” Season 2 for BBC One and AMC.

Regarding today’s announcement, Torresblanco said: “The film will allow global audiences to experience the otherness, the thrill, and the, at times, over-the-top reality of Christmas in the Southern Hemisphere. Unifying themes of family and ritual where parkas, snow and eggnog give way to bikinis, sand and mojitos. All with the customary holiday season indulgences and slapstick required to make the kind of cult film we are confident can join other enduring seasonal family favorites.”

Based in New York, Rain4est is co-founded by writers Kiana Maggiolo and Mijael Garrido Lecca, and veteran producers Adolfo Franco (“Cantinflas”) and Christian Valdelievre (“Sexo, Pudor y Lágrimas”).