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…
Read the full article here
