For years, the collective imagination has placed titles like Love in fact either alone at home at the top of Christmas cinema. However, when the criterion is strictly economic, the global box office wins, management changes hands. Historical box office data dismantles the myth: The highest-grossing Christmas movie of all time is neither a romantic comedy nor a ’90s classic, but a much more recent animated production that has taken movie theaters by storm globally.
The two highest-grossing films
It is about The Grumpy (2018). The animated version of the character created by Dr. Seuss became a huge success at the international box office, reaching a worldwide collection of approximately $512 millionWith these numbers, it easily surpassed any other Christmas title released to date. With the help of Universal and Illumination, its triumph can be explained by an effective formula: animation aimed at a family audience, a coordinated world premiere and a recognizable brand that connected with new generations without relying on nostalgia.
In second position appears alone at home (1990)the classic with Macaulay Culkin which is part of the sentimental canon of several generations. His performance in the theater was extraordinary for its time ($476 million worldwide) and made it one of the most profitable family comedies of the 90s. However, the passage of time and the inflation of international markets ended up placing it behind the animated phenomenon of The Grinch. Note that the box office harvest becomes more relevant when we know the budget allocated to this film: 10 million dollars, even if in the end, and as explained in a Netflix documentary The films that made usthey managed to expand it to 18 million.
The films that complete the top 5
The top 5 is completed by titles which have helped to consolidate Christmas cinema as a commercial genre. Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992) with an approximate collection of $359 million. The second installment of Kevin McCallister’s Christmas Adventures confirmed that the phenomenon had a history beyond the first installment.
Added to this The Grumpy live action (2000), promoted by Jim Carrey’s coup de grace with around $345 million; And Christmas story (2009), the animated adaptation directed by Robert Zemeckis which took advantage of 3D to attract family audiences during the holidays. It surpassed $320 million at the worldwide box office. All share the same pattern: large studios, international premiere and clearly family vocation.
What about Love in fact?
And where is he Love in fact? The British romantic comedy certainly appears in the ranking of the most profitable Christmas films, but far behind the top 5. According to official data, His worldwide collection is worth approximately $245 million.which places it outside the top positions, although over time it has become one of the most watched and repeated titles every Christmas.
The platforms in streaming comes into play
The panorama changes when we look at the present and introduce an additional block: consumption in streaming. Platform records during the month of Decembershows that Christmas titles carry a lot of weight and they run the digital catalog. Currently, the film that tops the global list on Netflix is My Secret Santa and follows Jingle Bell Flight. On the other hand, in the case of Spain, they occupy positions 3 and 5 respectively. The gold and silver medals do not yet have the Christmas theme, while the fourth place is occupied by the second tranche of Christmas in your handsof Santiago Segura.
There are other metrics that allow us to observe which Christmas titles maintain sustained streaming interest throughout the year. According to popularity lists prepared by JustWatch, which aggregate user behavior across different platforms, Love in fact ranks ninth among the most popular Christmas films in 2025, ahead of classics like A Christmas story and just behind The holidays.
In this same classification, there are also alone at home, Elf, Die hard either Life is beautiful ; which reflects a consumption more linked to tradition and annual repetition than to recent release. Unlike box office data or weekly viewing rankings, these rankings measure overall user interest, searches, clicks and availability, and show how certain titles are revived each Christmas, even if they don’t top the most viewed lists on a specific platform.
About The Author
