Festive Film Franchises: Best Christmas Movies
Olivia ColeIt’s the most wonderful time of the year – particularly for those of us who like to get into the Christmas spirit as early as possible by cuddling up in front of the TV with a festive film. And whether you’re a bit of a Grinch or you consider yourself an enthusiastic Elf, everyone has one Christmas film that they turn to each year to celebrate the festive season. But which popular film is actually the best, and which are you best off leaving for another year?
The Festive Film Franchises study, from CasinoGuardian, crunches the numbers around fan reception, box office earnings and fan interest, to reveal which Christmas flicks truly stand the test of time. On top of this, the study also looks at the availability of each festive film on streaming platforms (Prime Video, Disney+ and Netflix) in both the UK and US, to see which provider is best for those looking to get stuck into cinema this Christmas.
The Best Christmas Movies
How does one crown the best Christmas movie? Well, although arguably you can’t go wrong with any Christmas film – particularly if you’re looking for a cosy afternoon in – it turns out that there are some seasonal titles that fare better than others when it comes to quality. The study analysed fan reception – based on critic scores from IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes – box office earnings (budget versus global profit) and seasonal interest (search data throughout winter) to reveal which festive film is the ultimate Christmas watch.
And it turns out that the film that scored the highest across all three categories is Miracle on 34th Street (1994), starring Mara Wilson, Richard Attenborough and Elizabeth Perkins. The American fantasy comedy-drama tells the story of a little girl and a lawyer attempting to prove that an old man named ‘Kris Kringle’ is the real Santa Claus. The film scored pretty well with fans, achieving a reception score of 6.4/10 across IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes, and made an absolute fortune at the box office, earning a huge 73 times its production budget.
Also scoring highly in the study is Macauley Culkin’s 1990 classic Home Alone, which has a better fan reception score of 7.9/10, and made back over 25 times its budget at the global box office. A high proportion of fans also end up searching for the film as it gets closer to Christmas, despite the franchise taking a bit of a dip after the second instalment (Home Alone 2: Lost in New York). Things then took a downturn for the Home Alone series, with a further four films (Home Alone 3, Home Alone 4: Taking Back the House, Home Alone: The Holiday Heist and Home Sweet Home Alone) struggling to make an impact with fans.
It’s no surprise then that on the other end of the scale, the three most recent Home Alone movies are amongst the worst Christmas flicks, alongside Jingle All The Way 2. This American direct-to-video Christmas comedy had a much more successful first film that starred Arnold Schwarznegger, but the second instalment starring Larry the Cable Guy fell flat and as a result boasts a very low critic score of 3.5/10.
Interestingly, some genuinely ‘good’ Christmas films appear in the bottom 10 when box office earnings, fan reception and seasonal interest are taken into account. Christmas with the Kranks – starring Tim Allen and Jamie Lee Curtis – scored poorly in the study due to a low critic score (4.6/10) and low box office earnings (making twice the budget), whilst Jack Frost starring Jack Nicholson also appeared in the bottom 10 films.
But different films have different strengths, and fans who don’t hold box office earnings in high regard may be more interested in the best-received festive films. According to cumulative critic rankings and audience scores on IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes, the best-rated film is It’s a Wonderful Life, whilst Die Hard, Home Alone and The Muppet Christmas Carol also landed well with fans.
Favourite Film Franchises
While there are classic standalone films like The Grinch, The Holiday and Love Actually, a key component of the festive period is making your way through an entire film franchise, like Home Alone. And although we know the latter is let down by its later instalments, many of us will insist on diligently watching each film within a franchise as a tradition. So, for those who enjoy making their way through a series, which festive franchise is worth the effort?
The study found that – based on fan reception, box office earnings and fan interest – the best franchise is Home Alone, even despite the newest instalments. The franchise boasts an average fan reception score of 4/10 and has a low interest score of 2 – but the success of the first two films starring Macauley Culkin means the series’s profits exceeded its production budget a staggering 14 times. Also among the best franchises are The Santa Clause (starring Tim Allen and Eric Lloyd), and Nativity!
Seasonal Streaming Platforms
So it’s all very well and good crowning the ultimate Christmas film, but every TV and cinema enthusiast these days knows that half the battle of watching anything is figuring out which streaming platform has the content. Although many platforms will be upping their festive offerings this time of year, there are still clear differences between the big three providers – Netflix, Amazon Prime and Disney+. What’s worse, some territories have to wait even longer to access their festive content, subject to when the platforms make it available within the UK or US.
The study found that when it comes to which platform offers the most festive content, Disney+ was the top-performer, offering an average of 15 festive films across both the UK and US, including the likes of Muppets Christmas Carol and Home Alone. The worst-performer so far is Netflix, offering an average of 4 festive flicks in the UK and US. At the time of writing, these festive films include Klaus, Jack Frost, and Deck the Halls.
Generally, the UK is also much better off for festive content than the US is, with 32 films available at the time of writing, compared to 29 in the US. However, this doesn’t take into account programming schedules on cable or satellite. For example, fans in the UK can access a 24/7 Christmas TV channel – that launched early this year on 8th September – to get their festive fix, whilst those in the US might have to wait to access such content until Thanksgiving has passed.
Summary
For many of us, streaming Christmas films is a key part of lifting our spirits during winter, as we conducted a quick poll to reveal how watching festive films makes people feel. The results showed that for the majority of people (49%) watching festive films markedly improves their mood, while 1 in 10 of us (9%) don’t feel like it’s truly Christmas until we’ve watched our favourite festive film.
Whether you like to put up your Christmas tree and start streaming festive films from the second November hits, or you’re a traditionalist who prefers to wait until December, you’re spoiled for choice when it comes to seasonal content.