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Christmas bargain shopping usually doesn’t start until December 26. But this week’s Video on Demand top 10 lists suggest the sales started early. And once again this year, Ron Howard’s “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” (Universal) leads the way.
Overall, nine different holiday-related movies charted either at iTunes or Fandango (as VOD) or among the current top 10 movies streaming on Netflix. For the latter, that includes their original thriller “Carry-On,” with the Christmas Eve-set movie starring Tagon Egerton and Jason Bateman #1 for the second straight week.
It’s an odd year for VOD, with fewer than usual top recent films getting a pre-holiday release with potential digital gift ability. None of November’s four biggest hits (“Wicked” and “Moana 2” are still very strong in theaters, with no release soon likely, “Gladiator II,” or “Red One” not up till now out on PVOD.
For Ridley Scott’s film, that changes December 24. In a somewhat surprising move (the expectation has been that Paramount would try to get as many theaters as possible to hold through lucrative Christmas playdates), “Gladiator II” will go digital after its fifth weekend in theaters. It is likely to lead VOD activity both because of its strengths and the lack of competition during this period.
“Carry-On” per Netflix saw 42 million views worldwide its opening week. That makes its repeat at #1 (a rarity for most weeks, more so for one of their originals) suggest that it could be one of their biggest hits ever. It bested Tyler Perry’s “The Six Triple Eight,” also an original, which debuted on December 20. The historical drama about Black military women who heroically solved a massive backlog of mail to servicemen during World War II is #2. It stars Kerry Washington, with Susan Sarandon and Oprah Winfrey among the supporting cast.
“Red One” is very much a Christmas title, with Dwayne Johnson saving the holiday. Amazon decided to skip PVOD and atypically stream first. The result was a worldwide first-week viewership of over 50 million, a record for the platform.
With iTunes calculating by transactions and with three titles costing only $3.99 to rent for 48 hours, it’s no surprise they had the most Christmas action. “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” is #1 there, while the 2018 animated version is #4. The TV classic “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” is third, the recent “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever” (Lionsgate) at $19.99 is fifth, and “Home Alone” is #10.
“Venom: The Last Dance” (Sony) is #1 again at Fandango, which ranks by revenue. The Marvel offshoot is #2 at iTunes. Fandango has “How the Grinch” at #4 and the Jack Black straight-to-video “Dear Santa” (Paramount) #10.
Sean Baker’s strong awards contender “Anora” (Neon) is the top new release of the week. Currently #6 at iTunes (it got as high as #3 during the week) and eighth at Fandango, it is performing well for a film that grossed a strong-for-specialized $13 million. Also debuting is Danny Boyle’s 2003 “28 Days Later” (Sony), originally a Fox Searchlight release. At $3.99 to rent (with its absence earlier from digital downloading for $14.99 also popular), it made both lists, with fifth place at Fandango.
Netflix’s original animated feature “That Christmas” and their 2018 perennial “The Christmas Chronicles” also made their top 10. A somewhat surprising success is Jim Jarmusch’s “The Dead Don’t Die,” a 2019 zombie comedy that got up to #2 during the week. It’s currently #5. “Barbie” moved its streaming over from a long run at Max. It is #6 at the moment.
iTunes ranks films daily by number of transactions, while Fandango at Home lists by revenue. The listings below are for Monday, December 23 (iTunes) and the week of December 16-22 (Fandango).
The distributors listed are current rights owners. Prices for all titles are for lowest for either rental or download.
1. How the Grinch Stole Christmas (Universal) – $3.99
2. Venom: The Last Dance (Sony) – $19.99
3. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (Universal) – $7.99
4. The Grinch (Universal) – $3.99
5. The Best Christmas Pageant Ever (Lionsgate) – $19.99
6. Anora (Neon) – $19.99
7. Heretic (A24) – $19.99
8. 28 Days Later (Sony) – $3.99
9. Blink Twice (Amazon MGM) – $3.99
10. Home Alone (Disney) – $3.99
1. Venom: The Last Dance (Sony) – $19.99
2. The Best Christmas Pageant Ever (Lionsgate) – $19.99
3. Heretic (A24) – $19.99
4. How the Grinch Stole Christmas (Universal) – $3.99
5. 28 Days Later (Sony) – $3.99
6. Deadpool & Wolverine (Disney) – $5.99
7. Alien: Romulus (Disney) – $5.99
8. Anora (Neon) – $19.99
9. Smile 2 (Paramount) – $5.99
10. Dear Santa (Paramount) – $5.99
These are the most-viewed, current rankings on Netflix’s domestic daily chart on December 23. Originals include both Netflix-produced and acquired titles it initially presents in the U.S. Netflix publishes its own worldwide weekly (and individual country) top 10s on Tuesdays based on time viewed, and usually includes films for which it doesn’t have domestic rights.
1. Carry-On (Netflix original)
2. The Six Triple Eight (Netflix original)
3. That Christmas (Netflix British animated original)
4. It Ends with Us (2024 theatrical release)
5. The Dead Don’t Die (2019 theatrical release)
6. Barbie (2023 theatrical release)
7. The Christmas Chronicles (2018 Netflix original)
8. Our Little Secret (Netflix original)
9. Ferry 2 (Belgian Netflix original)
10. Subservience (2024 theatrical release)
