Rapper Ludacris has been hired to star in the comedy, Fred Claus for Warner Bros. Pictures.

Vince Vaughn plays Santa's loser brother living in New York who returns home to the North Pole and almost ruins Christmas, says The Hollywood Reporter; Ludacris will play an angry elf. Paul Giamatti, Kevin Spacey, John Michael Higgins and Elizabeth Banks also are in the cast.

David Dobkin is directing Fred Claus; it has a November 9, 2007 release set.

Fred Claus was released November 9th, 2007 and stars Vince Vaughn, Paul Giamatti, John Michael Higgins, Miranda Richardson, Rachel Weisz, Kathy Bates, Trevor Peacock, Ludacris. The film is directed by David Dobkin.