Arnold Schwarzenegger and David Harbour Play Santa Two Days Apart. Here Is Every New Christmas Movie of 2026.

Santa gets recast twice in three days this year. On Wednesday, December 2, Arnold Schwarzenegger plays him in The Man with the Bag, a PG heist comedy on Prime Video. On Friday, December 4, David Harbour's Santa returns to theaters in Violent Night 2, rated R for strong, bloody violence and language.

Around them: Johnny Depp as Scrooge, a new Pedro Almodóvar film, five Netflix originals, Snoopy on the naughty list, two classics back on the big screen, and a record 34 Hallmark premieres. Here is every new Christmas movie of 2026, with dates, ratings and where to watch.

December 2 and 4: two Santas, two very different movies

The Man with the Bag (Prime Video, December 2)

Adam Shankman (Hairspray) directs Schwarzenegger as a Santa whose magic bag gets stolen. To get it back, he goes through his own naughty list and recruits Vance (Alan Ritchson, Reacher), a thief who has to pull off, in the official synopsis's words, the greatest heist of his life. Awkwafina co-stars. It is rated PG, premieres worldwide on Prime Video, and its full trailer arrived on November 2.

Violent Night 2 (theaters, December 4)

Tommy Wirkola, who directed the 2022 original, is back with Harbour, and this time Santa has a partner: Kristen Bell as Mrs. Claus. Daniela Melchior, Jared Harris and Joe Pantoliano join them. In Universal's synopsis, a Santa sapped of his magic has to protect a mall community from goons the hard way.

The first film is why there is a second. Violent Night opened to $13.5 million on the first weekend of December 2022 and finished with $50.1 million in the US and $76 million worldwide, per Box Office Mojo. Universal has given the sequel the same slot.

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In theaters: Scrooge, Almodóvar and two anniversaries

Ebenezer (November 13)

In theaters from Friday, November 13. Ti West, the director of X and Pearl, makes a PG-13 A Christmas Carol for Paramount, with Johnny Depp as Scrooge, Ian McKellen as Marley and Rupert Grint as Bob Cratchit. Our Ebenezer preview has the tracking and five older Scrooges to stream first.

Bitter Christmas (November 13 and 25)

In New York and Los Angeles from Friday, November 13, and nationwide from Wednesday, November 25. Almodóvar's new film is not a cozy one. Over a long December holiday weekend, a woman whose mother has just died buries herself in work until a panic attack forces her to stop. Bárbara Lennie and Leonardo Sbaraglia lead. It holds 87 percent on Rotten Tomatoes from 76 reviews, is rated R, and comes from Sony Pictures Classics after opening in Spain in March.

The Holiday and It's a Wonderful Life (re-releases)

Nancy Meyers' The Holiday, with Cameron Diaz, Kate Winslet, Jude Law and Jack Black, returns to participating theaters on December 11 for its 20th anniversary. Frank Capra's It's a Wonderful Life turns 80, and Fathom Events has showtimes from December 18 through Christmas Day, with what Fathom calls exclusive insight from critic Leonard Maltin.

Netflix's five, in order

A Dog's Perfect Christmas (streaming now)

On Netflix since Wednesday, November 4. From W. Bruce Cameron, the author of A Dog's Purpose, and director Cathryn Michon. When a medical emergency pulls the Goss family apart, their dog Winstead (voiced by Thomas Haden Church) sets out to reunite them before Christmas Eve. Dennis Quaid, Milo Ventimiglia and Mary Steenburgen star. Critics are cool so far, with two of the first seven reviews on Rotten Tomatoes positive, but audiences give it 98 percent.

Tyler Perry's The Gospel of Christmas (November 11)

On Netflix from Wednesday, November 11. Perry writes and directs a PG drama about a struggling pastor who inherits his family's church in a troubled New York neighborhood and has to save it from foreclosure before Christmas. Fantasia Barrino Taylor and Tank star, with CeCe Winans, Yolanda Adams and The Clark Sisters among the gospel names in the cast.

The Christmas Switch (November 12)

On Netflix from Thursday, November 12. A Swedish rom-com from director Adam Pålsson, starring real-life sisters Felice and Happy Jankell as sisters who swap lives in the weeks before Christmas. City girl Freddie takes over homebody Mattie's life, with predictable results.

Guarding Stars (November 18)

On Netflix from Wednesday, November 18. Leighton Meester plays Hannah Brooks, a no-nonsense protection agent, and Jared Padalecki plays Jack Stapleton, the movie star she is assigned to guard. He brings her home to his family's ranch for the holidays, where she poses as his girlfriend, and you can guess the rest. It adapts Katherine Center's novel The Bodyguard, with Andie MacDowell and country singer Walker Hayes in the cast.

In a Holidaze (December 2)

On Netflix from Wednesday, December 2, the same day as Schwarzenegger's Santa. Maddie Ziegler plays an aimless twentysomething who makes a romantic mistake at her family's cabin, then has to relive the same Christmas until she figures out what actually makes her happy. Rob Lowe and Patton Oswalt co-star, and director Tiffany Paulsen adapts Christina Lauren's 2020 novel.

For the kids: Snoopy, Penny Proud and the Fraggles

• Snoopy Presents: 12 Days of Snoopy (Apple TV, Friday, November 13): Snoopy lands on Santa's naughty list and has 12 days to get off it. A half-hour special, rated G.
• A Proud Family Wizmas (Disney+, Saturday, November 14): Penny's rant about Wizmas and holiday commercialism makes Santa quit on Christmas Eve, so she has to put on the red suit herself. That makes three Santas this season.
• Fraggle Rock: A Holiday Gift (Apple TV, Friday, December 4): Wembley is named Spirit Captain, then the Fraggles take a snow globe from Doc's workshop and the holiday spirit starts to fade. Nicole Scherzinger guests.
• Free Peanuts: Apple TV streams A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving free on November 14 and 15, and A Charlie Brown Christmas free on December 12 and 13, no subscription needed.

And Hallmark has 34

Hallmark's Countdown to Christmas is already running, with a record 34 new movies premiering through December 20, each streaming on Hallmark+ the next day. Lifetime has 11 new holiday movies of its own, per TVLine's schedule.

How to plan the season

1. November 13: Ebenezer in theaters, or 12 Days of Snoopy at home with the kids.
2. November 18: Guarding Stars on Netflix, the purest rom-com setup of the year.
3. December 2: The Man with the Bag and In a Holidaze arrive on the same day.
4. December 4: Violent Night 2 for the grown-ups.
5. December 18 to 25: It's a Wonderful Life on a big screen, 80 years on.

Then keep score. Add each one to Shortlist as you watch and rank it head to head against the holiday movies you already love, two at a time. Does Schwarzenegger's Santa beat Harbour's? Does Depp beat Alastair Sim? Our movie tier list guide shows how to build the list, and our November theaters guide covers everything else opening this month.

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