Two of the three main subjects Movie releases on Christmas Day don’t offer much family-friendly sightseeing for your holiday.
Starring Nicole Kidman, “Babygirl” is an erotic thriller in which Kidman is involved in a torrid affair with an intern at her company.
Kidman described the film, which also stars Antonio Banderas and Harris Dickinson as her husband and affair partner, respectively, as “obviously about sex, it’s about desire, it’s about your inner thoughts, it’s about secrets, it’s about marriage, it’s about the truth. “Power, Consent” during the 2024 Venice Film Festival.
“This is a woman’s story, and I hope it’s a very liberating story,” the Oscar winner said. per variety.
NICOLE KIDMAN SAYS EROTIC THRILLER ‘BABYGIRL’ WAS ‘LIBERATEING’ BUT LEFT SHE FEELING ‘VERY EXPOSED’
Nicole Kidman stars in “Babygirl” and has “Christmas Day,” a film she describes as “liberating.” (A24)
“Nosferatu,” meanwhile, is a dark, horror-filled retelling of the original 1922 silent film based on the story of “Dracula,” which early reviews also described as “erotic” and “seductively macabre.” according to IndieWire.
One of the film’s stars, Lily-Rose Depp, admitted that the film wasn’t a typical Christmas story, but joked: “Who doesn’t love a good scare at Christmas?” in an interview with Weekly entertainment.
“There’s a few Christmas Easter eggs in there, so I feel like if you watch it at Christmas, you feel in tune and feel like they’re in the same time as you,” she continued. “And, you know, there’s snow! It’s getting pretty cold. Who doesn’t like to think about death and the realm of the dead on Christmas Day?”
There’s also a larger strategy behind the decision to release these two films on the biggest holiday of the year.
Lily-Rose Depp joked that her new horror film “Nosferatu” is a Christmas movie because “you know, there’s snow!” (Courtesy of Focus Features/© 2024 Focus Features LLC)
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“It actually has nothing to do with the holiday season,” Travis Knox, an associate professor at Chapman University, told Fox News Digital. “It’s awards season. All of the films you are talking about are being discussed for possible Oscar nominations.”
Knox explained: “To qualify for the academy you have to be in a theater for seven days. So if you look at December 25th and (then) open, you have seven days. So plug in The film at the very end, which may not appear on very many screens, makes them all Oscar-eligible.
“Babygirl” and “Nosferatu” are both making awards season buzz and will be nominated for Oscars after their Christmas release dates. (A24/© 2024 Focus Features LLC)
“Many of them are aiming to show them on a more limited number of screens into the new year. See what happens with awards season and go from there. If you start winning, you can capitalize on that to expand into more and more theaters. And that’s exactly what they play for.”
The third major Christmas Day release is the Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown Timothy Chalamet, This certainly has broader appeal, in part because of its lead actor, who, as Knox pointed out, is “the favorite of everyone in their late teens and early twenties” and is likely to draw an audience.
Timothée Chalamet plays Bob Dylan in “A Complete Unknown,” which hits theaters on Christmas Day. (Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures. © 2024 Searchlight Pictures)
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“Wicked” also debuts The sing-along screening is available on Christmas Day and gives people the opportunity to sing along to the blockbuster.
Tell-Tale TV senior writer Lara Rosales told Fox News Digital: “A lot of people want to go and sing along, and so far it’s been, ‘Please don’t sing while we watch the movie.’ ‘ But this gives a lot of people the opportunity to do that, especially those who have kids and want to do something on the day and maybe have already seen the film. And the kids, like so many, are obsessed with this soundtrack, so it’s a good opportunity for them to watch too.
“It actually has nothing to do with the Christmas season. It’s awards season.”
As for new films more specifically tied to the holiday season, many of them are now available to watch on streaming services and cable channels like Hallmark, Lifetime, and Netflix.
Rosales speculates that the COVID-19 pandemic has led to a shift in cinema offerings versus home viewing.
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“People started using these platforms more because even when the cinema reopened, a lot of people were afraid to go to the cinema and be in an enclosed space with so many other people, so they turned to streaming services and that kind of thing “Films became more popular, and they were more accessible to people,” she said.
Rosales continued, “You don’t have to pay for a ticket for every single family member. You have the streaming subscription and that is enough for everyone to watch. So I feel like it’s become more accessible and family-friendly.” A kind of environment where people can just watch it. If you have small children, you don’t have to worry about going to the movies and your kids potentially disturbing everyone else. If it’s a Christmas movie, you can just relax and enjoy it at home with them.”
“Wicked” will be offering sing-along performances starting on Christmas Day. (Universal Images)
Knox noted that in addition to films like “Wicked,” “Moana 2” and “Mufasa: The Lion King” are already in theaters, so “it’s not like there’s no family fare. It’s just a really crowded season for the big guys.” Studio family fare. And that might also turn some people off if they’re trying to release a brand new Christmas movie that isn’t based on an intellectual property this time of year.
Amazon MGM released an original Christmas film, the action comedy “Red One,” in theaters in November. starring Dwayne Johnson and Chris Evans. The film, which had a budget of $250 million, only opened for $32 million in the United States and had mediocre reviews (the film currently has a 30% critic rating on Rotten Tomatoes).
“Red One,” starring Dwayne Johnson and Chris Evans, was released in theaters in early November and hit streaming services earlier this month. (Karen Neal/Prime)
When “Red One” landed on Prime Video last week, the company announced it was the most-watched film debut ever on the streaming platform, drawing 50 million viewers worldwide.
“Whether people like it or not, the value of these films varies for our business model. …If we can get these films into theaters and cover our P&A (printing and advertising) costs, why shouldn’t we? “We get.” “A huge marketing campaign that gets paid for before the movie is streamed,” says Kevin Wilson, head of theatrical distribution at Amazon MGM Variety said.
“If it’s a Christmas movie, you can just relax and enjoy it at home with them.”
Knox finds the claim regarding the film’s financial success “dubious.”
“Let’s do the math and now they’ve lost over a quarter of a billion dollars before streaming even starts. And they say that 50 million viewers in the first weekend… that’s a win. (With) so much money, “Do you really have enough new subscribers? You already have a Prime subscription. I think it was a big mistake to spend so much money on this film.”
“Red One” was a box office flop but reached 50 million viewers, according to Amazon, making it the most-watched film debut on Prime Video. (Frank Masi/Prime)
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Rosales believes the film might have been more successful theatrically if it had premiered closer to the actual holiday.
“Probably a lot of people will watch this film, especially now that it’s been released on a streaming platform, and they might see it just before Christmas and with their family, and that’s probably why it’s not in the box like that “Office did well, and it might do better on streaming services now,” she said. “And I think for a Christmas movie to be successful, it has to come out closer to Christmas Day just to give people some kind of Christmas spirit and get in the holiday spirit and just the countdown to Christmas and all that stuff.”
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The fact that fewer family-friendly or Christmas-themed films are released in cinemas on Christmas Day is not an entirely new phenomenon.
Per Box Office MojoSherlock Holmes, Django Unchained, Les Misérables, Unbroken and Into the Woods are currently the top five films released on Christmas Day.
Robert Downey Jr. starred in “Sherlock Holmes,” which ranks first in ticket sales for a film released in theaters on Christmas Day. (Steve Granitz/FilmMagic)
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Knox explained these five “They’re all really, really strong films. And yes, it’s a Christmas Day release. But here, too, it’s more about awards.”
“There are a lot of families out there who will go see a Quentin Tarantino film (like ‘Django Unchained’), ‘Sherlock Holmes’ and ‘Les Mis.'” They’ve built an audience, so it makes perfect sense on Christmas Day to open the doors.”
As Rosales notes, going to the movies with family or friends on Christmas Day is a popular activity, so it comes down to a variety of options.
Kidman described “Babygirl” as “obviously about sex, it’s about desire, it’s about your inner thoughts, it’s about secrets, it’s about marriage, it’s about truth, power, consent.” (A24)
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“They’re different genres, different types of stories, and they all attract people because they’re different. If we start premiering Christmas movies like we’re doing now in November, leading up to Christmas Day, we’ll definitely do that.” “I want to see something different,” she said. “And that’s exactly what these films offer.”
