Americans love slapstick, family humor in list of most-watched Christmas films
Home Alone is the most popular Christmas movie in America with nearly 90% of adults saying they’ve seen the slapstick comedy. 90% of adults saying they’ve seen…
Home Alone is the most popular Christmas movie in America with nearly 90% of adults saying they’ve seen the slapstick comedy. 90% of adults saying they’ve seen the slapstick comedy.
Nearly 80% of Americans say they love or like holiday Christmas movies, and 64% say they plan to watch at least one this year, according to a survey from YouGov. The survey included 52 Christmas movies – 22 of which most Americans have seen.
The most-seen Christmas movies in America:
- Home Alone: 89% of Americans
- Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: 84% of Americans
- A Charlie Brown Christmas: 82% of Americans
- Frosty the Snowman: 80% of Americans
- The Grinch: 78% of Americans
- A Christmas Carol: 76% of Americans
- Elf: 71% of Americans
Other classics include It’s a Wonderful Life (68%), Miracle on 34th Street (66%), The Polar Express (62%) and The Muppet Christmas Carol (49%).
While most Americans have seen these classics, they may not watch them every year. This year, the most watched Christmas movies, according to Samba TV, are:
- National Lampoons Christmas Vacation: Although overall viewership is down 23% from 2024, 7.3 million American households have already enjoyed watching this satirical, family-feud movie.
- Elf: Also down in viewership (21%); still 6.8 million households have laughed at the 2003 film, packed with cringy, sentimental moments.
- Home Alone: With a 27% increase in viewership from 2024, America’s most-watched movie has secured 5.3 million household views in 2025.
- How the Grinch Stole Christmas: With a 57% increase in viewership, Dr. Suess’ Christmas story of small hearts and joyful Whos has gained 2.9 million household views in 2025.
- The Santa Clause: More than three million American households have gathered around this Tim Allen comedy – a 12% increase from last year.
While not making the list, traditional Christmas-story movies include The Nativity Story (2006) and animated The Star (2017).
