Trivia / Deck the Halls

• Box Office Bomb: Made back only $47.2 million of its $51 million budget at the box office.
• Creator Backlash: Matthew Broderick himself disliked working on this movie, having been overheard several times on set by fellow cast and crew muttering to himself "I've hit rock bottom".
• Irony as She Is Cast: Of the two main roles, only Danny DeVito is Christian, while Matthew Broderick is actually Jewish in real life.
• Money, Dear Boy: Suggested by the episode How Did This Get Made?, a lot of the cast were disillusioned and begrudging with their roles. Matthew Broderick hated working in the movie, while Danny DeVito just came in to do his lines and nothing else.
• Star-Derailing Role: This film blemished most of its adult cast's careers in 2006 after becoming a massive flop during the Christmas holiday season.
  • Matthew Broderick was a major teen idol back in The '80s with WarGames and Ferris Bueller's Day Off, before being taken more seriously as an actor after starring in the Civil War epic Glory. He had a thriving career for the next few decades, which was strong enough to survive duds like Godzilla (1998) and Inspector Gadget (1999). However, Deck the Halls was the last film where he played the leading role. Broderick's screen career has mostly receded into supporting parts afterwards, and he since has focused on stage work to better success.
  • Danny DeVito was in several duds in the 2000s after an impressive run of success in the past decades, but this film was the worst-received of them all. Fortunately, that same year he began starring as Frank Reynolds on the comedy series It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. While his film career remains wobbly, he remains a big star on TV.
  • Kristin Chenoweth was already a big icon of the theatre (having won a Tony Award) when she moved to find success on the screen, which began decently on The West Wing. However, the combined failures of Deck the Halls, The Pink Panther, and RV, which got her a joint Razzie nomination for Worst Supporting Actress, didn't do her potential on film any favors. Although that ship has sailed, she remains a Broadway star and maintains a good television career (with Pushing Daisies (which won her an Emmy Award), Glee, Descendants, Schmigadoon!, etc.).
  • Kristin Davis struggled to find her footing after Sex and the City wrapped up in 2004, beginning with a small part in The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl. Deck the Halls and The Shaggy Dog bombing in the same year mostly killed her career. Her most prolific acting work since has been reprising her role as Charlotte in the Sex and the City films, then later in the Sequel Series And Just Like That...
• Troubled Production: This counts not due to external forces or Executive Meddling, but due to the four actors' personalities reaching Dysfunction Junction levels. According to this episode of How Did This Get Made?, guest Andrea Savage's friend Gillian Vigman who was on set said that Matthew Broderick suffered a shoot long depression, and was frequently saying stuff along the lines of "I've hit rock bottom", explaining his Dull Surprise performance, Danny DeVito showing up to say his lines then hopping on the next plane out, Kristin Chenoweth, who'd just broken up with Aaron Sorkin spending everyday crying, and Kristin Davis saying to Vigman that "[She] should get [her] eggs frozen." It all makes for an uncomfortable, hilariously depressing story.
• Working Title: All Lit Up.

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