Lindsey Lohan’s return to the seasonal screen was far and away Netflix’s best Christmas movie premiere of the season, drawing for 54.6 million viewing hours in its first five days to best viral social media hits like “Hot Frosty” and “The Merry Gentlemen.”
Lindsay Lohan as Avery in “Our Little Secret.”
Key Facts
“Our Little Secret” debuted Nov. 27 and was watched 32.4 million time between then and Dec. 1 despite having the lowest Rotten Tomatoes score of any Netflix original Christmas movie so far (37%).
The film, starring Lohan and Ian Harding as exes who are unexpectedly forced to spend Christmas together, earned almost twice as many views in its premiere week as romantic comedy “Meet Me Next Christmas,” which earned 18.1 million views in its first five days.
“Hot Frosty,” debuted to 16 million views in the week of Nov. 11 and “The Merry Gentlemen” was the least-watched Christmas premiere of the year with 14.7 million views its first week.
“Hot Frosty,” which sees a magical snowman comes to life and court a widow, made waves on social media after its release for its recognizable cast that includes the so-called “Queen of Christmas” Lacey Chabert (she’s featured in dozens of holiday films for the channel), Dustin Milligan (“Schitt’s Creek”) and Craig Robinson (“The Office”).
The film’s out-there premise (also a “Mean Girls” reference) has been called “unhinged” and “over-the-top cringe” but also “perfect” and something “everybody needs to go watch.”
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Lacey Chabert as Kathy Barrett and Dustin Milligan as Jack Snowman in “Hot Frosty.”
Crucial Quote
“I just watched the movie Netflix made about the sexy snowman that turns into Ted from ‘Schitt’s Creek,’ gets arrested by Daryl from ‘The Office’ and falls in love with Gretchen Weiners from ‘Mean Girls,’ and I cannot express how worth the hour and a half it was to watch this,” TikTok musician Emhahee said in a video that now has more than 3 million views. “Art isn’t dead.”
Big Number
80%. That’s the Rotten Tomatoes score for “Hot Frosty,” among the top of Netflix original movies so far this year, despite reviews that call it “immensely dumb” and “generically saccharine.” “Meet Me Next Christmas” has a 69% score, “The Merry Gentlemen” sits at 44% and “Our Little Secret” has a 37%. “That Christmas,” an animated movie that debuted Dec. 4, has a 59%.
When To Watch All Of Netflix’s 2024 Original Holiday Movies
“Meet Me Next Christmas” (Nov. 6) — Layla (Milian), a hopeless romantic, races around New York City to score a ticket to the holiday season’s most in-demand concert in hopes of impressing the man of her dreams, but becomes smitten with a helpful concierge (Ellis) along the way.
“Hot Frosty” (Nov. 13) — Two years after the death of her husband, Kathy (Chabert) accidentally brings a snowman (Milligan) to life who helps her rediscover the magic of Christmas.
“The Merry Gentlemen” (Nov. 20) — A professional dancer (Britt Robertson) decides to host an all-male revue in her hometown to save her parent’s failing bar, and recruits handyman Luke (Murray) to help.
Chad Michael Murray as Luke and Hector David Jr. as Ricky in “The Merry Gentlemen.”
“Our Little Secret” (Nov. 27) — Two exes (Lindsay Lohan and Ian Harding) discover they’re dating siblings and are forced to spend Christmas together.
“That Christmas” (Dec. 4) — A trilogy of children’s books is brought to life in this animated Christmas comedy with a cast including Brian Cox (“Succession”), Jodie Whittaker (“Doctor Who”) and Bill Nighy (“Love Actually”).
“Carry-On” (Dec. 13) — A TSA agent (Taron Egerton) is blackmailed into letting a dangerous package onto a plane in a Christmas-themed thriller.
Taron Egerton as Ethan Kopek in “Carry-On.”
Surprising Fact
Netflix is also releasing holiday-centric TV shows and one musical special. “A Nonsense Christmas with Sabrina Carpenter” is a holiday special featuring surprise musical guests and performances from Carpenter’s holiday EP “Fruitcake.” It debuts at 9 p.m. Friday, Dec. 6. Two seasonal baking shows — “Is It Cake? Holiday” (Nov. 28) and “The Great British Baking Show: Holidays” (Dec. 9)—are releasing on the streamer, and iconic holiday actress Keira Knightley (“Love Actually”) stars in thriller series called “Black Doves” set against the backdrop of London at Christmas. The show’s first season releases Dec. 5.
Tangent
The Hallmark Channel has been making its way up the cable charts since news holiday films started debuting in October. In the week of Nov. 18, the latest Nielsen data available, a Hallmark holiday original broke into the top 40 cable programs of the week for the first time this season with “Three Wiser Men and a Boy.” As of Nov. 24, Hallmark’s holiday programming had reached 22.1 million unique viewers, the network said.
