The 10 Most Successful Christmas Day Movie Releases, Ranked By Box Office Earnings
Christmas is a day of tradition, whether that be waking up before sunrise to open presents, going to church, caroling for your neighbors, or taking a trip to the movies. Over the last fifty years, moviegoing has become such a prominent part of the holiday season that December 25th has become one of the most anticipated movie release dates of the year. Even this year, when families are largely separated for the holidays, Christmas Day will see the release of some major blockbusters through streaming services, including Wonder Woman 1984 and Soul.
The 25th of December is one of the most lucrative release dates in modern movie history, and while the Wonder Woman sequel and a new movie from Pixar are sure to be hits, they're also bound to bring in less at the box office than in years past. So, to celebrate the holidays and the movies that come with them, these are the most successful Christmas Day releases of all time based on global box office earnings, adjusted for inflation.
10 Patch Adams (1998) - $387,000,000
Following its late-year release, this 1998 Robin Williams film became an instant success. Based on the true story of Hunter "Patch" Adams, the film follows Patch, played by Williams, as he transforms from a patient at a mental institution to a beloved medical doctor, known for healing the ill with humor and human connection. Patch Adams was such a draw at the box office, as it capped off an incredible five-year run from Robin Williams, starting with Mrs. Doubtfire in 1993, going through Jumanji in 1995, and Good Will Hunting in 1997. Williams was a megastar, and Patch Adams was his Christmas Day success.
9 The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button (2008) - $423,000,000
It's no surprise that The Curious Case of Benjamin Button blew up the way it did. A David Fincher film based on a short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald, starring Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, and Tilda Swinton, released on Christmas Day? It's a recipe for success. On top of the credentials, Benjamin Button served up one of the most unique stories in recent memory: The life and loves of a man who ages backwards. With performances as compelling as the visuals were stunning (the film's arts department notably took home three Oscars for their work) The Curious Case of Benjamin Button set the bar for fantastical-romance dramas moving forward.
8 The Wolf Of Wall Street (2013) - $439,000,000
It is a well-known fact: There is a direct correlation between Leonardo DiCaprio's performances and box office success. The Wolf of Wall Street is just one of the many Leo-led films to break the bank on the 25th of December. Martin Scorsese's 2013 epic retelling of the rise and fall of Jordan Belfort, a real-life stockbroker portrayed by DiCaprio, gained instant notoriety for its liberal use of improvisation, F-bombs, and nudity.
While children were lined up to see The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, the box office shows that their parents were sneaking off in droves to see the NSFW masterpiece released on Christmas morning.
7 Django Unchained (2012) - $500,000,000
Quentin Tarantino's 2012 western starring Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Kerry Washington, Samuel L. Jackson, and (no surprise) Leonardo DiCaprio may not have the cult following of Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill, or Reservoir Dogs, but it is by far his most successful film at the box office.
Despite its Christmas Day release, Django Unchained is no holiday film. It follows Django, a freed slave played by Foxx, and his bounty hunting benefactor, played by Waltz, as they search across the antebellum South for Django's enslaved wife, and just as in all Tarantino films, there is an abundance of expletives and bloodshed. Django Unchained also showed Tarantino the power of a December release date, a tactic he followed in his next film, The Hateful Eight. While Django Unchained may not be Pulp Fiction, half a billion dollars and an endless supply of Internet laughter isn't a bad legacy for a movie.
6 Les Misérables (2012) - $519,000,000
For 2012 moviegoers looking for a film on Christmas (and if Django didn't sound appealing) they needn't look any further than Tom Hooper's adaptation of the world famous musical Les Misérables. It wasn't long ago that Hooper was known more for his Oscar-winning period pieces, such as Les Mis and The King's Speech, instead of the CGI disaster known as Cats. Les Misérables, the post-revolutionary French musical starring Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, and Anne Hathaway (among many other stars), was everywhere following its release on Christmas of 2012. Not only did the film gross half a billion dollars, but its soundtrack topped the Billboard charts in 2013.
5 Catch Me If You Can (2002) - $549,000,000
While Tarantino and Scorsese certainly capitalized on the power of a DiCaprio-Christmas project, it was actually Steven Spielberg who set the blueprint with 2002's Catch Me If You Can. Not only did Catch Me If You Can create that blueprint, but it also served as a passing of Hollywood's crown from Tom Hanks to Leonardo DiCaprio. By playing against each other, an FBI agent (Hanks) seeking to a catch young conman (DiCaprio), Spielberg created one of the most fun and compelling movies in his filmography. Though the film is essentially a two-man show, it's also backloaded with a ton of established and rising stars that brought people to the theaters, including Christopher Walken, Martin Sheen, Amy Adams, Jennifer Garner, and Ellen Pompeo. Catch Me If You Can may be less than two decades old, but it felt timeless almost immediately.
4 The Revenant (2015) - $581,900,000
When Alejandro G. Iñárritu released The Revenant on Christmas of 2015, the entire moviegoing world got in line. Iñárritu was coming off of a triple crown at the Academy Awards - Best Writing, Best Director, and Best Picture for Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) - and Leonardo DiCaprio, the star of The Revenant, seemed primed to finally get the Academy Award that had been unjustly denied him his entire career.
The Revenant, though a brutal depiction of one man's journey to avenge his son's murder on a wintery frontier, lived up to the hype, getting Iñárritu yet another Best Director Oscar and Leonardo his long-awaited Best Actor win while racking up well over half a billion dollars at the box office.
3 American Sniper (2014) - $631,126,000
People will say what they want about Clint Eastwood's personal politics, but no one can deny his success at the box office. At 84, Eastwood released American Sniper, yet another Christmas Day release based on a true story - this time the story of Chris Kyle, the uber-talented and troubled sniper with more confirmed kills than any American soldier, his four tours in the Middle East, and the problems his career brought him and his family. Bradley Cooper, who plays the titular sniper, carried the film on his back and pushed American Sniper to break the record for the highest-grossing opening weekend, bringing in a whopping $90,000,000 in two days.
2 Sherlock Holmes (2009) - $631,132,000
Possibly the most surprising film on the list, the 2009 adaptation of Sherlock Holmes, featuring Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law, and Rachel McAdams, was a massive success. With little critical acclaim before its arrival, this Guy Richie film blew box office expectations out of the water. Dark, funny, smart, and packed with action, Sherlock Holmes was the family movie of Christmas, 2009. Ritchie filled the film with enough winks and nods to keep the adult moviegoers entertained, even if they were surrounded by children eager to see Iron Man solve a mystery. No one could have seen the success of Sherlock Holmes coming, except maybe Sherlock himself.
1 The Sting (1973) - $835,000,000
The first major movie release to aim for Christmas Day not only set the groundwork for holiday releases, but it also set the high watermark. When George Roy Hill, Paul Newman, and Robert Redford - the talented trio behind Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid - reunited in 1973 to release The Sting, they changed Hollywood forever. It had been proven only a few years earlier than movies could succeed over the holiday season, following the release of Dirty Harry on December 22nd, 1971, but no major studio would dare challenge Santa Claus on his ordained day. That is, until The Sting. Since its release, The Sting has been the film to beat. While the film's two grifters (played by Newman and Redford) seek to pull off a con so large it's a matter of life and death, the film itself pulled off a feat just as impressive: Winning seven Academy Awards, becoming an instant classic, and to this day, being one of the 25 highest-grossing movies of all time.