The filmmakers behind the recent hit holiday action flick Violent Night awoke to an unpleasant discovery this morning. Not only was everyone involved in the motion picture given only coal from Santa Claus, but they were also served with a letter from Santa informing them of his intent to sue them.

While some from the production are expressing utter shock at this news, there are some who saw this coming. Walton Goggins, who played a hitman hired to kill Santa (portrayed by Mel Gibson) in the film Fatman, also received coal from Santa for his part in that film. However, it was the letter the actor received that really haunted him.

“Yeah, the man in red left me a note a couple years back that was very disturbing. He wanted me to forward it to all of my colleagues to get the word out,” Mr. Goggins said.

When pressed on the contents of the letter, Goggins would only offer broad strokes.

“Let’s just say he didn’t like the movie and he made it clear any further such depictions would result in severe consequences. The people I showed it to laughed it off, but to be perfectly upfront I was glad I had no other projects lined up where we were gonna show Santa murdering people. I had fun making the movie, but I can’t afford to go toe-to-toe with the North Pole, man. Maybe the Stranger Things guy [David Harbour] can. He’s making bank off the child labor of his co-stars, but me…I had just had my show [The Unicorn] cancelled when I got that letter! Scary times, man.”

The legal team for Claus (and his corporation North Pole Unlimited) is led by Bartholomew Carlton, who released a statement confirming legal action is the next step.

“The existence of the motion picture Violent Night is both unacceptable and disturbing. Its content will cause irreparable damage to the brand of Mr. Claus, his associates, and the spirit of Christmas itself.” Carlton told us.

When asked if there was any truth in the movie’s version of Santa, Mr. Carlton scoffed.

“Can Santa be a little harsh with the elves sometimes? Sure. Would he ever take immense pleasure from brutally killing people? Of course not!” Said Carlton. “This low rent Die Hard ripoff depicts Santa as a war loving avenger who sardonically annihilates his enemies. What kind of naughty people come up with this stuff?”

David Harbour had a surprising response to Mr. Carlton’s statement.

“Oh, he’s absolutely right about what the movie is and how we depict Mr. Claus. That’s what makes the movie so f—ing rad. I’d make fifteen of these things if they’d let me. It’s the only kind of Santa I wanna see anymore to be perfectly honest. I’ve had it with Mr. Nice Claus. Boring! It’s 2022, we can handle something different for goodness sake!”

Carlton rebukes Harbour’s claims that any such representation is rad.

“It’s a defamation of Mr. Claus’ character, David! Think of the children who will see an image of Santa and watch this movie only to be scared for life. Horrible!” Insists Carlton.

We can’t say for certain how this will play out in court, but we do know it’s going to be a bumpy (sleigh) ride.