IDoes it sound like the end of a once important part of the film calendar is coming soon? There was a time when audiences flocked to theaters every December to catch holiday blockbusters: festive multiplex crowd-pleasers designed to lighten the mood (and significantly enrich the big studios). Last month, however, came a reminder of how drastically things may have changed. Redan action comedy about a kidnapped Santa Claus, not only endured brutal reviews but also suffered the ignominy of a stocking-full-of-coal opening weekend, grossing $250 million compared to its $196 million budget. £. This was despite the cast being led by two of mainstream cinema’s biggest names: Marvel’s Chris Evans and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.

There are different theories about the Amazon-backed company’s poor performance. Some have suggested that audiences didn’t want “Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell Rock” – if you’ll excuse the pun – since Johnson’s star power appears to be on the wane (just look at how his Black Adam franchise is doing so failed). Market launch in 2022). Others blame confusion over the film’s target audience; Red occupies “an ill-advised no man’s land, too intense for small children… and too dull to attract teenagers and genre fans,” wrote Wendy Ide The Observer. However, many consumers in Hollywood and internally at Amazon assume that the film will be available to watch at home on Prime Video by Christmas. So what was the point of trudging to the cinema and paying for the tickets? (And they were right: Red arrived on Prime yesterday.)

But there could be a completely different reason. RedThe stuttering rollout is another example of how Hollywood studios appear to have lost both the desire to make marquee films and the know-how of what makes them appeal to moviegoers. In other words, it looks like Christmas blockbusters have landed on the list of culturally indecent films – unwanted by audiences and poorly managed by studios.

Of course there are still Christmas movies. American network Hallmark has spawned a cottage industry of sappy romantic comedies that are so popular that Netflix has started following suit with films like this year’s Hot frosty – about a handsome snowman who comes to life. And then there are low-budget comedy specials like Prime’s Jack in time for Christmasin which Jack Whitehall races through America with greats like Rebel Wilson and Michael Bublé. But Christmas Blockbusters – the kind that are supposed to storm the box office – are undeniably in decline.

“There seems to be less of them, and fewer that bring people together the way Christmas movies once did,” admits Canadian director Michael Dowse, whose 2021 comedy was made 8-Bit Christmas is one of the rare recent Christmas films financed by a major studio (Warner Bros.) that struck a chord, albeit on streaming. The 51-year-old grew up in an era of almost constant Christmas releases, one of which he particularly cites as a key factor in his decision to become a filmmaker: “I rented (National Lampoon’s). Christmas holidays from Blockbuster and never returned it. I must have seen this film 70 times,” he laughs. He points out that this film was released in 1989 – a smash within five years Home alone, Die Hard, Lubricated, Edward Scissorhands, The Muppet Christmas Carol, Batman returns, Die Hard 2, Home Alone 2: Lost in New York And The nightmare before Christmas Snowball into the cinemas.

Just compare this wave of releases to today. Sure, every now and then there’s a cult hit from an indie author, like Alexander Payne’s The leftoversGreta Gerwigs Little women or Todd Haynes Carol. But apparently the days when the December box office was dominated by festive spectacles are over. Of the 20 highest-grossing Christmas films of all time, there are only three films from the last decade, all of which disappear from the rankings when the box office returns of older films are adjusted for inflation. These three films are animated films from 2018 The Grinchforgotten Mark Wahlberg comedy Dad’s home 2And The Nutcracker and the Four Realms – a film that made Disney a reported $65 million and is considered one of the biggest flops in the Mouse House’s recent history.

In the popular American film podcast The big picture Last week host Sean Fennessey suggested that 2003 might have been the last year that festive films clouded the zeitgeist Eleven And Actually love among this year’s releases. Hollywood reporter Jeff Sneider, whose newsletter The InSneider follows projects in development and monitors Tinseltown trends, is inclined to agree. “They are largely the domain of streaming now. Last night I stayed awake and watched nutcrackera new Ben Stiller (Disney+) film,” he says. “Fifteen years ago there would have been a theatrical release. Hand luggage is another example, right? This is a new Netflix Christmas action film starring Taron Egerton and Jason Bateman. In the past, these films would have been in the cinema.” However, they are now appearing on streaming services, where they risk being lost in the platforms’ inexhaustible treasure trove of content. (Remember 2022 Spiritedwith Will Ferrell and Ryan Reynolds? How about 2023? Candy Cane Alleywith Eddie Murphy? Neither does anyone else.)

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Others believe that the cultural decline of Christmas films is largely due to our changing tastes. “It’s the Deadpool take on films that has really had an impact,” a screenwriter working on a Christmas drama currently in development tells me on condition of anonymity. “Christmas films are supposed to be a little serious and sincere. It’s baked into their DNA, so to speak. And right now the entire culture of mainstream cinema doesn’t agree with that. It makes it difficult to move anything (from development to production) that doesn’t address Christmas in a tongue-in-cheek, ironic way.”

“The ridicule is a problem,” Dowse agrees. “A good Christmas film can be funny, but it has to have a pure heart to be received in a traditional way. I get sent a lot of scripts for Christmas films and they subvert them with an action or horror idea.” Christmas films that have been released in recent years include John Woo’s gimmicky, dialogue-free action film silent Nightor the David Harbor vehicle Violent nightin which the Stranger Things Star played a Santa Claus bordering on John Wick.

Another issue could be the release window for Christmas movies. In the last decade, at least since 2015 Star Wars: The Force AwakensDecember is increasingly a place in the calendar for sequels to major franchises, among other things Avatar: The Way of Water, Spider-Man: No Way Home And The Matrix Resurrections. “Christmas is a big time for movies and studios want to leave plenty of room for their tentpoles,” says Sneider. “This year it is (Lion King Consequence) Mufasa. If you look at the upcoming December calendars, it’s Star Wars and Avatar.”

Today’s franchise-driven Hollywood doesn’t want to stand in the way of these juggernauts – especially when Christmas films themselves rarely lend themselves to franchises. How many festive sequels can you name other than Home Alone, Gremlins, Die Hard or Bad Santa?

It doesn’t help that studios used to take bigger risks Ideas during the heyday of Christmas films. Home aloneThe Movie, for example, lured audiences in with its premise of a little boy fending off burglars alone during the Christmas holidays – the relatively unknown Macaulay Culkin certainly wasn’t the draw. People like Will Ferrell and Bruce Willis were also untested movie stars in their time Eleven And Die Hardrespectively. But that wouldn’t fly today.

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“The feeling among Hollywood executives is that at a time when you’re competing with TikTok and YouTube for people’s attention, there’s almost no point in releasing a film without a big star,” a source said , who is familiar with the production of Red tell me. “It leads to insanely inflated budgets because you’re spending so much on actors.” (The Rock was reportedly paid $50 million for his appearance Red – a fifth of the total production costs of the film.)

Dowse says it would be a shame if Christmas blockbusters disappeared. At best, he says, they play an important social role. “Families watch them together,” he says. “It’s a big part of life, and I think especially American life, starting with Thanksgiving – people huddling together to watch movies as a family. I don’t think there’s a lack of appetite. I think there will always be a market for them. I think it’s just a matter of threading the needle and finding a story that’s unique enough to make you feel a certain way.”

“I think studios need to rethink their idea of ​​what a Christmas movie is,” agrees Sneider. “It doesn’t have to be a $250 million world-building thing with giant polar bears and explosions. At the end of the day, we just want some heart.”