Few days are as reliably lucrative for theaters and studios alike as Christmas Day. Each year, folks from all walks of life gather at their local multiplex to check out new films: some come with large families, eager to see new all-ages blockbusters; others are younger folks salivating for some grisly counterprogramming offering a respite from the cheerful holiday season. Everything from The Wolf of Wall Street to Sherlock Holmes to Django Unchained (and everything in between!) has opened on December 25th, and often reaped the rewards of this busy moviegoing day,
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Even with Christmas being a big day for releasing movies, it’s still wild to consider that certain motion pictures began their theatrical release journies on that particular holiday. As The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and Nosferatu have shown, darker films can thrive as Christmas Day premieres, so it’s not a question of tone when it comes to making a holiday season release a success. Countless other factors inform why the following seven movies are some of the wildest and most inexplicable motion pictures ever released on Christmas Day.
Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem
“This Christmas, there will be no peace on Earth.” So declared the Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem, which brought both the Alien and Predator sagas to Christmas for the first time (though each saga had previously debuted an installment at Thanksgiving). This infamously poorly-lit horror sequel actually didn’t seem poorly-suited for Christmas at first, thanks to its robust $9.5 million opening day. After debuting as the third-biggest movie in America, though, Requiem quickly collapsed at the box office and was overshadowed by I Am Legend and Sweeney Todd, two more films aimed at folks looking for dark thrills in December of 2007. Avoiding “peace on Earth” it turns out, wasn’t a lucrative proposition.
The Postman
Nothing says Christmas cheer like Kevin Costner wandering the apocalypse as a mythical postman. 1997’s The Postman launched on Christmas Day, hoping to mimic past holiday season Costner box office hits like The Bodyguard, JFK, and Dances with Wolves. Instead, The Postman cratered at the box office, with the feature barely cracking the top ten on opening weekend. If audiences wanted an epic drama in December 1997, they booked a trip on the Titanic. The Postman has since become such a pop culture laughingstock that it’s easy to forget it confidently debuted on a very promising release date.
47 Ronin
Nothing about 47 Ronin necessarily screams “Christmastime event movie” – yet Universal Pictures gave this Carl Rinsch directorial effort a December 25, 2013 release date after constantly delaying it from prior 2012 and 2013 launch dates. Even the 47 Ronin marketing failed to capitalize on or even reference this holiday season release window: no wonder why moviegoers overwhelmingly rejected 47 Ronin. It was neither prime December programming nor enjoyable holiday season counterprogramming. This infamous Keanu Reeves turkey just limped into theaters and died there.
The Spirit
The 2005 Frank Miller comic adaptation Sin City clearly inspired 2008’s The Spirit (which Miller actually directed). However, City opened in early April 2005 where it faced minimal competition; The Spirit, meanwhile, opened on Christmas Day 2008. More bizarrely, The Spirit, despite its grim marketing campaign and evoking of the R-rated Sin City, arrived at multiplexes with a PG-13 rating. Take it from The Girl with Dragon Tattoo, Scream, and The Wolf of Wall Street: you must have an R-rating to work as lucrative Christmastime counterprogramming! The Spirit has since earned a reputation as being one of the worst comic book movies of all time.
[Related: Weirdest Movies to Open Over Thanksgiving]
Galaxy Quest
Given how three of the original six Star Trek movies opened over the holiday season (two even launched in December), a Christmas Day premiere for Star Trek-parody Galaxy Quest makes some semblance of sense. However, this feel-good yukfest still feels a little incongruous with December pleasures. Its vibes just scream “summertime crowdpleaser”, not holiday season titan – plus, Galaxy Quest’s Christmas 1999 launch put it in direct competition with other PG-rated 1999 holiday season fare like Toy Story 2 and Stuart Little.
The Darkest Hour
Like Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem, The Darkest Hour had a poster tagline cheekily referencing its Christmas Day release date – in this case, “survive the holidays.” That generic slogan crystallized in a movie that never had a prayer of making back its budget. Who wants to watch invisible aliens enacting 3D PG-13 chaos in Russia instead of spending time with their families? With no track record for alien invasion movies working with Christmas release dates, it’s a mystery why The Darkest Hour launched in that window during 2011.
Batman: Mask of the Phantasm
Even with the deluge of theatrically-released Batman movies over the last 60 years. Batman: Mask of the Phantasm is (to date) the only one to actually launch on Christmas Day. Its dreadful box office performance has likely warded away any other Batman titles from debuting in late December. Once upon a time, such a date may have made sense to Warner Bros. executives; with Disney not launching a new animated movie during Thanksgiving 1993, Mask of the Phantasm seemed like it could become the must-see animated movie of the holidays.
Instead, thanks to a reduced theater count and marketing campaign, Batman: MotP flopped in theaters. Family audiences also didn’t care for a darker Batman story on the big screen when lighter fare like Mrs. Doubtfire was around. Tonally grim movies at Christmas work great for certain older audiences; however, Mask of the Phantasm proved selling such films to kids or families was a fool’s errand.
