Building upon the success of Newlyweds—a breakout hit on VOD—Tribeca Film has acquired the rights to writer/director/actor Edward Burns’ next film, The Fitzgerald Family Christmas. After its world premiere as an official selection of the Toronto International Film Festival on Sunday, September 9, a holiday season release is set for late November.

“Having returned to my own filmmaking backyard with my most personal work, The Fitzgerald Family Christmas, I'm thrilled to partner with my old friends at Tribeca,” said Edward Burns. “We’ve been working closely together for over a decade and I’m happy to have their support to launch the film this holiday season.”

In the film, Burns reunites with cast members Connie Britton and Michael McGlone from his award-winning debut film The Brothers McMullen (1995). (Britton is now best-known to audiences from her role as Tami Taylor in the television version of Friday Night Lights.) With the Fitzgeralds, Burns returns to the working-class, Irish-American roots of his classic film, rounding out his cast with Noah Emmerich (Beautiful Girls), Kerry Bishé (Argo), and Caitlin FitzGerald (Damsels in Distress).

The ensemble storyline follows adult siblings as they react to their estranged father (Ed Lauter, The Artist, The Longest Yard), who attempts to reconnect with his family at Christmastime after walking out on them 20 years earlier. As is so often the case, the holidays bring out family rifts, complicated dynamics, and high-tension emotions. Within the Fitzgerald clan, alliances form, old wounds are reopened or glossed over, and the potential for forgiveness and redemption emerge.

“Family dynamics around the holiday are a rich vein, brought to life on screen by Ed Burns’ unique ability to create relatable, intimate and affecting moments,” said Geoffrey Gilmore, Chief Creative Officer of Tribeca Enterprises. “Deeply felt performances from a strong ensemble cast make the Fitzgeralds a family that recalls the McMullens, but with a fresh and wry perspective all its own.”