Topline
Two of Netflix’s newest Christmas films are already dominating the streamer’s most-watched charts—and more are on the way—as holiday movies starring early 2000s stars and Hallmark’s “Queen of Christmas” capture audiences.
Key Facts
“Meet Me Next Christmas,” a romantic comedy starring Christina Milian and Devale Ellis, released Nov. 6 to become the most-watched movie of the week with 18.1 million views in its first five days.
It stayed high on the streamer’s most-watched list in its second week, from Nov. 11 to Nov. 17, but fell to second place with 11.8 million views behind “Hot Frosty,” which was watched 16 million times in its first five days.
“Hot Frosty,” which sees a magical snowman comes to life and court a widow, made waves on social media after its release for its recognizable cast that includes the so-called “Queen of Christmas” Lacey Chabert (she’s featured in dozens of holiday films for the channel), Dustin Milligan (“Schitt’s Creek”) and Craig Robinson (“The Office”).
The film’s out-there premise (also a “Mean Girls” reference) has been called “unhinged” and “over-the-top cringe” but also “perfect” and something “everybody needs to go watch.”
“One Tree Hill” actor Chad Michael Murray stars in Netflix’s third holiday release, “The Merry Gentlemen,” which released Wednesday and quickly dethroned “Hot Frosty” in Netflix’s top 10 list.
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Lacey Chabert as Kathy Barrett and Dustin Milligan as Jack Snowman in “Hot Frosty.”
Crucial Quote
“I just watched the movie Netflix made about the sexy snowman that turns into Ted from ‘Schitt’s Creek,’ gets arrested by Daryl from ‘The Office’ and falls in love with Gretchen Weiners from ‘Mean Girls,’ and I cannot express how worth the hour and a half it was to watch this,” TikTok musician Emhahee said in a video that now has more than 3 million views. “Art isn’t dead.”
Big Number
82%. That’s the Rotten Tomatoes score for “Hot Frosty,” among the top of Netflix original movies so far this year, despite reviews that call it “immensely dumb” and “generically saccharine.” “Meet Me Next Christmas” has a 69%.
When To Watch All Of Netflix’s 2024 Original Holiday Movies
“Meet Me Next Christmas” (Nov. 6) — Layla (Milian), a hopeless romantic, races around New York City to score a ticket to the holiday season’s most in-demand concert in hopes of impressing the man of her dreams, but becomes smitten with a helpful concierge (Ellis) along the way.
“Hot Frosty” (Nov. 13) — Two years after the death of her husband, Kathy (Chabert) accidentally brings a snowman (Milligan) to life who helps her rediscover the magic of Christmas.
“The Merry Gentlemen” (Nov. 20) — A professional dancer (Britt Robertson) decides to host an all-male revue in her hometown to save her parent’s failing bar, and recruits handyman Luke (Murray) to help.
Chad Michael Murray as Luke and Hector David Jr. as Ricky in “The Merry Gentlemen.”
“Our Little Secret” (Nov. 27) — Two exes (Lindsay Lohan and Ian Harding) discover they’re dating siblings and are forced to spend Christmas together.
“That Christmas” (Dec. 4) — A trilogy of children’s books is brought to life in this animated Christmas comedy with a cast including Brian Cox (“Succession”), Jodie Whittaker (“Doctor Who”) and Bill Nighy (“Love Actually”).
“Carry-On” (Dec. 13) — A TSA agent (Taron Egerton) is blackmailed into letting a dangerous package onto a plane in a Christmas-themed thriller.
Taron Egerton as Ethan Kopek in “Carry-On.”
Surprising Fact
Netflix is also releasing holiday-centric TV shows and one musical special. “A Nonsense Christmas with Sabrina Carpenter” is a holiday special featuring surprise musical guests and performances from Carpenter’s holiday EP “Fruitcake.” It debuts at 9 p.m. Friday, Dec. 6. Two seasonal baking shows — “Is It Cake? Holiday” (Nov. 28) and “The Great British Baking Show: Holidays” (Dec. 9)—are releasing on the streamer, and iconic holiday actress Keira Knightley (“Love Actually”) stars in thriller series called “Black Doves” set against the backdrop of London at Christmas. The show’s first season releases Dec. 5.
Tangent
The Hallmark Channel has been making its way up the cable charts since news holiday films started debuting in October. In the week of Nov. 11 to 17, the latest Nielsen data available, Hallmark rose to be the third most-popular channel in primetime and total-day viewership, beating out both MSNBC and CNN. Fifteen films have been released so far, and “Santa Tell Me” is the most-watched to date with 2.7 million total viewers.
Further Reading
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