The 10 Highest-Grossing Christmas Movies of All Time

With the holiday season in full swing, Odometer is taking a look back on the Top 10 high-grossing Christmas movies of all time. 

Although famous cult classics like White Christmas and National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation tend to be the most talked about films during the holiday season, both didn’t have the best runs at the box office. 

With a budget of $2 million, White Christmas achieved only $30 million at the box office. The National Lampoon’s holiday classic secured $73.3 million during its theatrical run with a budget of $25 million. 

Note: This list does not include action-packed films that took place during the holiday season, such as Die Hard, Gremlins, and Batman Returns. 

The top-grossing holiday films are listed below.

The Grinch (2018) – $512,285,215

Starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Cameron Seely, and Rashida Jones, The Grinch follows the classic tale of the infamous Grinch plotting to ruin Christmas for the whos down in Whoville. This was in order for him to get peace and quiet during the holiday season. However, with the help of Cindy-Lou Who, the Grinch was able to overcome his cynical views of Christmas and he discovered the true meaning of the holiday season.

According to The Numbers, The Grinch made $270,834,950 in the domestic box office and $241,450,265 internationally. Altogether, it was a huge holiday success with $512,285,215. 

Home Alone (1990)- $476,680,911

A true cult classic without any introduction, Home Alone follows pre-teen Kevin McCallister, who was accidentally at his Chicago-area home while his family flew to Paris for Christmas. Eventually discovering her son was home by himself, Kevin’s mother found ways to travel halfway across the world to reunite with him. However, being home alone wasn’t the only issue for Kevin, a duo of criminals, known as the Wet Bandits, were breaking into homes on Kevin’s street and were eyeing his home. Not allowing the not-so-smart robbers to get what they want, Kevin set up booby traps throughout his home and made the criminals ultimately regret their life choices. 

After Kevin trapped the Wet Bandits and they were arrested, Kevin’s mother, as well as the rest of his family, reunited with him just in time for Christmas. The film starred Catherine O’Hara, Macaulay Culkin, Joe Pesci, and Daniel Stern. It raised $285,761,243 in the domestic box office and $190,919,668 internationally. The total worldwide box office was $476,680,911.