Social media users recently marveled that last month marked 20 years since three modern Christmas favorites — New Line’s Elf, Universal’s Love Actually and Miramax’s Bad Santa — all hit theaters within weeks of each other. Two decades later, you don’t need to feel like a cotton-headed ninny-muggins if you’re among those wondering why studios don’t release holiday theatrical offerings in the way they once did.
Although most Christmas films don’t tend to follow the path of, say, 1990’s Home Alone, which topped the domestic box office for a whopping 12 straight weeks, they had typically been a staple of the release calendar, with a handful of titles hitting theaters annually, as recently as the late 2010s. That list includes such 2016 theatrical offerings as Almost Christmas, Bad Santa 2, Office Christmas Party and Why Him?, followed by 2017’s Daddy’s Home 2, A Bad Moms Christmas and animated movie The Star; the year after that brought The Nutcracker and the Four Realms, Once Upon a Deadpool and the animated The Grinch.
But it was around this time, amid the advent of streaming platforms, that holiday films became less of a theatrical priority for studios. One example is Disney’s Anna Kendrick-Bill Hader feature Noelle, which the studio had initially scheduled for theatrical release in 2019 before changing course and releasing it directly to Disney+ that year. Fast-forward to 2023, and streaming platforms have become the primary destination for holiday cheer.
This year, Amazon found success with the Eddie Murphy starrer Candy Cane Lane, which it touted as its most watched film during its debut weekend. The streamer is said to be seeking more Christmas movie pitches from its creative partners. Additionally, Netflix‘s Family Switch and Best Christmas Ever! both had solid runs on its self-reported Top 10 charts, while television channels such as Hallmark continue to thrive with their cottage industry of Christmas-centric romantic comedies.
“The studios aren’t going to make Christmas comedies if there are six Christmas comedies on a streaming platform,” Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group president Sanford Panitch told The Hollywood Reporter earlier this year. “So [our strategy is] partly about finding the spaces that are theatrical, and not feeling that there’s something that someone can get at home for free.”
A rare exception this year? Oscar contender The Holdovers, which was picked up by Focus Features out of this year’s Toronto Film Festival, has enjoyed a traditional theatrical run before it heads to Peacock next week.
Filmmaker Sean Anders tells THR that his movie Spirited, Apple TV+’s 2022 update of A Christmas Carol that starred Ryan Reynolds and Will Ferrell, received offers from multiple legacy studios before the package landed at the streamer. The film ended up playing in select theaters a week prior to its streaming debut, which Anders recalls being a top priority for him. “It is best experienced on a big screen with amazing sound and, most importantly, other audience members, so I was emphatic that it be released theatrically,” he says of the musical that returned to cinemas last month.
This shift away from Christmas films hitting theaters might be surprising, given that holiday classics can be quite a gift for exhibitors. Elf has become the biggest all-time repertory title for Alamo Drafthouse, which has seen business for the movie increase 20 percent this year over recent ones as viewers celebrate its 20th anniversary with eventized screenings that include interactive elements and props.
John Smith, senior film programmer for the chain, points out that Elf was initially a modest box office success before growing in ensuing years. “That’s the case with a number of these, where the value may not be present until years down the line as people work it into their annual traditions,” says Smith, who also cites National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, White Christmas and It’s a Wonderful Life as consistent performers for the company, along with 2006’s The Holiday, which his team has more recently added to the Alamo roster. “For us, that’s why we always try to make a point of trying one or two new ones, just to see how they do. If Netflix builds a cult film that people enjoy watching for years to come — so long as they let us play it as a repertory title, which they often will — we’ll probably be able to get an audience for it.”
It’s possible that future holiday seasons will see an uptick in theatrical choices as some streaming platforms seek to capitalize on this interest in enjoying holiday films as a social outing. Amazon MGM Studios announced this week that Red One, the Jake Kasdan-directed Christmas-centric action title that stars Dwayne Johnson and Chris Evans, will get a worldwide theatrical run beginning in November 2024 before streaming on Prime Video at a later date. (Given the continued box office success for genre titles, holiday films with grittier elements — such as 2022’s Violent Night and this year’s It’s a Wonderful Knife — have also landed in theaters, although they aren’t exactly family-friendly.)
The prospect of holiday streaming titles getting more time in theaters would likely please McG, who helmed Netflix’s body-swap comedy Family Switch that takes place at Christmas and stars Jennifer Garner and Ed Helms as parents who find themselves switching places with their kids. The filmmaker, who envisioned the movie as one that could still be enjoyed at any time of year, given that the plot isn’t directly focused on Christmas, acknowledges that studio heads “run all the numbers” when deciding what feels right for theatrical.
“The producers and I looked at the theatrical landscape, and we felt very much that we would resonate in a theatrical release, largely because there was no immediate competition,” McG says of Family Switch. “Usually for years past, there’s one or two juggernauts that speak directly to the holiday of it all. We thought, ‘Hey, in the absence of that, what if we did that?’ But respectfully to Netflix, that’s not their core business. They want people to realize, if you want to enjoy that great Jen Garner movie, you have to subscribe.”
Regardless of how people are able to enjoy holiday entertainment, there’s no question that the genre’s appeal is stronger than ever, which Anders attributes to audiences’ particular need for escape from the stress of our fraught times.
“Film historians will look back on this era and say, ‘What’s with eleventy-thousand Christmas movies being produced over a 10-year period?’” Anders quips. “Then they will connect it to world events of the time and see a perfect correlation.”
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