Aaron Pierre has his next action movie. The Rebel Ridge star will lead Fairytale in New York, a Christmas Eve thriller from Sisu director Jalmari Helander, with Netflix set to distribute and Lionsgate producing. Deadline broke the news on Friday, November 13, and reported that the deal came together after a competitive auction.

The setup is simple and mean. On Christmas Eve in New York City, an unassuming cab driver has a gift for his estranged son stolen. He spends the rest of the night getting it back.

A Cabbie, a Stolen Gift and One Long Night

Rory Haines and Sohrab Noshirvani wrote the original spec script. The two also wrote Helander's next film, John Rambo, which stars Noah Centineo and opens June 4, 2027. Lionsgate released both Sisu films, so this is the studio's third time working with the Finnish director.

Beau Flynn is producing for FlynnPictureCo alongside Kevin King Templeton of Templeton Media. Scott Sheldon of FlynnPictureCo is an executive producer, as are Haines and Noshirvani.

Lionsgate Motion Picture Group President Erin Westerman did not hold back on her new lead. Pierre, she said in a statement to Deadline, "has all the makings of a major movie star."

Fairytale in New York has been around for a minute. Lionsgate first announced it in 2024 with Ke Huy Quan attached to play the cab driver. Friday's report names Pierre as the star and Netflix as the film's home.

Pierre Keeps Stacking Big Roles

Netflix already knows what he can do. Rebel Ridge, Jeremy Saulnier's thriller, was his breakout on the service, and he carried it with very few words and a lot of stillness.

This fall he led HBO's Lanterns opposite Kyle Chandler. He was also in Love of Your Life, the Amazon MGM film that had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Next year is even busier. He is set to play John Stewart again in DC Studios' Man of Tomorrow, and he appears in Star Wars: Starfighter with Ryan Gosling, which opens in May.

And now a holiday revenge movie from the man who made Sisu. Helander's films are short on talking and long on stubborn heroes who will not stay down, which sounds like a good fit for an actor who made a bicycle ride feel like a threat.

No start date for filming or release date has been announced.