Candy Cane Lane stars Eddie Murphy and Tracy Ellis Ross in a festive treat that finds Murphy’s Chris Carver determined to take the number one spot when it comes to decorating for the holidays in his neighborhood. Carver manages to make a deal with an Elf that brings the twelve days of Christmas to life, however, things take a turn for the worse when it turns out the deal is not what Carver thought it was. But bringing partridges and pear trees and the like to life in a theoretical sense is one thing, but how did the production team manage to do it? Candy Cane Lane was filmed in Los Angeles, and we’ve collated all the information we have about the production for your reading pleasure.
Where was Candy Cane Lane filmed?
El Segundo, Los Angeles
El Segundo | Image via Trip.com
A lot of establishing shots and early scenes in the movie were recorded in El Segundo, and eagle-eyed viewers will notice the High School in the background. Scenes at the beach also look to have been filmed in and around the beautiful area of Santa Monica Bay. The beach scenes were recorded at Playa Del Rey Beach in Los Angeles, and if you look carefully you can spot the Scattergood Generating Station that is located in the Santa Monica Bay area in Southern California.
Colonial Street, Universal Studios Hollywood
Colonial Street | Image via Los Angeles Magazine
This is a set located on one of the backlots of Universal Studios, that has been used for various TV shows and movies for over six decades. You would recognize it from Desperate Housewives, but after the show finished, it was reworked so other productions would be able to utilize it. Other TV shows such as Buffy The Vampire Slayer, The Munsters, Never Have I Ever, and films such as The Burbs and House of 1000 Corpses were also filmed here.
The set is filled with all the details that make the street look as real as possible, even though many are just fronts, with no back walls. The set allows production companies to film on a set that is ready for action, requiring no further set construction, saving time and more importantly money.
Who produced Candy Cane Lane?
Eddie Murphy is a producer along with a few others including Brian Grazer, Karen Lunder, Douglas C Merrifield, and Charisse M Hewitt.
RELATED: Is Candy Cane Lane suitable for the whole family?
This is the first film under Murphy’s three-picture and first-look film deal with Amazon Studios. The deal appeared shortly after the release of Coming 2 America when the feature film moved from Paramount to Amazon during the pandemic. The film was so popular and became the biggest streaming film opening weekend in 2021.
Who directed Candy Cane Lane?
Candy Cane Lane was directed by Reginald Hudlin, and I know you will remember him from directing and producing films such as Django Unchained, which he received an Oscar nomination for, and House Party. It seems that Murphy and Hudlin have a little bit of history together too, with Hudlin working on the previous Murphy vehicle Boomerang way back in 1992.
In an interview with The Grio, Hudlin elaborated on how the two reunited. “We had been looking for something else to do together for a while,” Hudlin explained. “It takes a while to find something you are both in sync on and this is a no-brainer. We’re both family guys, we love Christmas, so we both very much identified with the characters and the story.” He concludes, “It was a joyous set every day.”
Eddie Murphy was interviewed by Vancouver is Awesome about the movie, and explains how the film’s writer, Kelley Younger, grew up with her family on Candy Cane Lane in El Segundo, California, where the idea of a decoration competition was a real thing.
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