Current:Home > NewsThe 15 most-watched holiday movies this season. Did your favorite make the cut? -WealthMindset Learning
The 15 most-watched holiday movies this season. Did your favorite make the cut?
View
Date:2025-04-25 19:10:16
What holiday movies are sleighing the ratings? It’s a mixed Santa’s sack of the Ghost of Christmas Past and the Ghost of Christmas Present, according to data shared exclusively with USA TODAY.
Samba TV, which analyzes viewership habits of households collected through smart TVs, assembled a list of the most-watched movies on TV and streaming services in the U.S. between Nov. 10 and Dec. 10. (For the study, a view means the household watched at least five minutes of a feature.)
Smiling along to “Elf” proved audiences’ favorite. So far, 9 million households have watched the 2003 feature starring Will Ferrell as whimsical Buddy the tall elf, who left the North Pole in search of his biological father. Nearly 8 million households have found 1989's “National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation” as enjoyable as a one-year membership to a jelly-of-the-month club. Who doesn’t feel for Clark Griswold (Chevy Chase) during his obsessive quest to provide a perfect Christmas for his extended family? And this stat might make you do Macaulay Culkin’s famed “Home Alone” face: the 33-year-old flick, in which a son forgotten by his vacationing family fights off burglars, raked in 7.1 million views.
'Santa! I know him!'How to watch 'Elf' this holiday: TV listings, streaming and more
By comparison, only three original holiday movies released on streaming platforms this year managed to snare more than 1 million households. Netflix’s “Best. Christmas. Ever!” starring Jason Biggs, Heather Graham and Brandy Norwood, attracted 2.3 million households. “The Family Switch,” Netflix's holiday-themed spin on “Freaky Friday” with Jennifer Garner and Ed Helms, garnered 1.9 million, which ties it with Amazon Prime Video’s “Candy Cane Lane,” starring Eddie Murphy.
Murphy told USA TODAY that he longed to do his first Christmas movie, and decided on “Candy Cane Lane” — a sort of “Jumanji” meets “The Santa Clause” — after contemplating remaking a classic. “’It's a Wonderful Life,’ 'Miracle on 34th Street,' we were looking through all of them," Murphy said. "But then this script came along, and it was like, ‘Hey, this has all the elements, and it's unique. So we can make our own little modern-day classic instead of remaking an old one.’”
The 15 most-watched movies between Nov. 10 and Dec. 10:
You'll notice that the largely debated "Die Hard" starring Bruce Willis makes the list. As Ashwin Navin, Samba TV's CEO, sees it: "There's no debate: 'Die Hard' is in fact a Christmas movie, and one of the greatest of all time at that," he said in a statement.
- "Elf" (2003, streaming on Max), 9 million household views
- "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation" (1989, Max), 7.9
- "Home Alone" (1990, Disney+), 7.1
- "The Santa Clause" (1994, Disney+), 4.3
- "Four Christmases" (2008, Max), 3.5
- "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" (2000, on Peacock Dec. 20‒31), 2.5
- "Best. Christmas. Ever!" (2023, Netflix Original), 2.3
- "The Holiday" (2006, for rent on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, Apple TV), 2.3
- "Family Switch" (2023, Netflix Original), 1.9
- "A Christmas Story" (1983, Max), 1.9
- "Candy Cane Lane" (2023, Amazon Original), 1.9
- "It's a Wonderful Life" (1947, Amazon Prime), 1.7
- "Die Hard" (1988, Disney+), 1.4
- "Love Actually" (2003, Netflix), 1.4
- "The Polar Express" (2004, Max), 1.1
Chevy Chase fallsoff stage in New York at 'Christmas Vacation' movie screening
The casting director for 'Elf'would pick this other 'SNL' alum to star in a remake
veryGood! (458)
Related
- Elon Musk's skyrocketing net worth: He's the first person with over $400 billion
- About that AMC Networks class action lawsuit settlement email. Here's what it means to you
- NBA All-Star break power rankings with Finals predictions from Shaq, Barkley and Kenny Smith
- Ex-FBI official sentenced to over 2 years in prison for concealing payment from Albanian businessman
- RFK Jr. closer to getting on New Jersey ballot after judge rules he didn’t violate ‘sore loser’ law
- Fed up over bullying, Nevada women take secret video of monster boss. He was later indicted for murder.
- More gamers are LGBTQ, but video game industry lags in representation, GLAAD report finds
- Rob Manfred anticipates 'a great year' for MLB. It's what happens next that's unresolved.
- Juan Soto to be introduced by Mets at Citi Field after striking record $765 million, 15
- Amy Schumer on 'infectious' Jimmy Buffett, his 'Life & Beth' cameo as street singer
Ranking
- Taylor Swift makes surprise visit to Kansas City children’s hospital
- Prosecutors drop domestic violence charge against Boston Bruins’ Milan Lucic
- More gamers are LGBTQ, but video game industry lags in representation, GLAAD report finds
- Horoscopes Today, February 15, 2024
- Meta releases AI model to enhance Metaverse experience
- Pennsylvania magistrate judge is charged with shooting her ex-boyfriend in the head as he slept
- Iowa’s Caitlin Clark wants more focus on team during final stretch now that NCAA record is broken
- Ex-FBI official sentenced to over 2 years in prison for concealing payment from Albanian businessman
Recommendation
Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow owns a $3 million Batmobile Tumbler
Iowa’s Caitlin Clark wants more focus on team during final stretch now that NCAA record is broken
Taylor Swift gives $100,000 to the family of the woman killed in the Chiefs parade shooting
Pregnant woman found dead in Indiana basement 32 years ago is identified through dad's DNA: I couldn't believe it
Senate begins final push to expand Social Security benefits for millions of people
Protests, poisoning and prison: The life and death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny
Murders of women in Kenya lead to a public outcry for a law on femicide
Elkhorn man charged in Wisconsin sports bar killings