Ed Sheeran writes song for Richard Curtis' Netflix film “That Christmas”

The singer revealed that Curtis approached him two years ago with the song “Under the Tree” and gave him rough sketches and vocals for “That Christmas” and that he was “blown away” by it.

“As emotional and yet as heartwarmingly funny as all of Richard Curtis' films,” Sheeran said in a statement.

“Since having kids, I've realized there's really a lack of great animated Christmas movies for kids, so I thought it would be a great thing to make and bring out into the world.

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“The scene we wrote this song for is so heartbreaking, but also so real for many people who are spending Christmas without their loved ones for so many reasons.

“I got to work on it with my older brother, which is a rarity and a gift. Working so closely with my only sibling, it was a beautiful feeling to create something that my children would watch with their uncle, set in the country where they live.”

In “That Christmas,” Brian Cox plays Santa Claus, Fiona Shaw plays Ms. Trapper, Jodie Whittaker plays Mrs. Williams and Bill Nighy plays Bill – the residents of a charming seaside town where everything is turned upside down on one Christmas.

Also starring are Lolly Adefope, Alex Macqueen, Katherine Parkinson, Sindhu Vee, India Brown, Zazie Hayhurst, Sienna Sayer, Jack Wisniewski, Rosie Cavaliero, Paul Kaye, Guz Khan, Andy Nyman, Kuhu Agarwal, Bronte Smith, Freddie Spry, Ava Talbot and Rhys Darby.

Co-writer and executive producer Richard Curtis said: “I'm delighted that Ed's beautiful song is featured in our film. The film is set in Suffolk… Ed lives in Suffolk and loves the town. He completely understood what we were trying to achieve and the tone we were trying to strike with it.”

“We have been friends for many years and it is really nice that he – especially now that he is a husband and father – plays such an important role in this film about love, children and family.

“And of course, even if he wasn’t a friend and didn’t love Suffolk, how wonderful to have a wonderful new song from one of Britain’s greatest songwriters always.”

That Christmas will premiere on Netflix later this year. Sign up to Netflix from £4.99 per month. Netflix is ​​also available on Sky Glass and Virgin Media Stream.

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