Almost three years on from his death at the age of 53, George Michael‘s music is finally being commemorated in the form of a film based around one of the biggest hits from his time in Wham!, Last Christmas.
Starring Game of Thrones’ Emilia Clarke and Crazy Rich Asians star Henry Golding, the film centres around Kate (played by Clarke), who works as an elf in a year-round Christmas store. She bumps into Tom (Golding’s character), and suddenly they become a huge part of each other’s lives. It also stars Emma Thompson as Kate’s mother, as well as Golding’s Crazy Rich Asians co-star Michelle Yeoh. Thompson co-wrote the story with her husband Greg Wise.
The director, Paul Faig, has revealed that this movie is somewhere between Mamma Mia! and Rocketman in terms of how it uses George Michael’s music: ‘There are a couple of sections where the actors are actually interacting with the music and other sections where George’s music is driving, or underscoring the story. So it’s a nice mix of being neither a jukebox movie nor straight up musical’. It has also been revealed that Kate’s character is a lifelong fan of George Michael, and is an aspiring singer herself.
Most exciting of all is the fact that this movie will contain the first new George Michael song released since his passing. The only other release has been Nile Rodger’s remix of his 1990 B-side ‘Fantasy’. The song was apparently part of the new music Michael was working on as part of a new album, and is said to be 6 minutes long.
Since the trailer was released on Wednesday, it has received largely positive feedback, although the seemingly simple romcom structure has some questioning whether there is more to the film than meets the eye considering the calibre of the cast. For example, it has been noted that Tom wears the same outfit in all the scenes in the trailer, leading some to believe that he is either some kind of angel visiting Kate from beyond the grave, or that he is simply a figment of her imagination.
Whatever the plot turns out to be, by the looks of the trailer, this film seems like the perfect way to get into the Christmas spirit – festive fun, with the promise of a few tears along the way.
Last Christmas will be released into cinemas via Universal Pictures on 8th November 2019. Watch the trailer here:
