“They have been playing musical chairs for the top spot.” Elf is no longer the best Christmas movie, in 2024 this place was taken by another hit from years ago

Elf probably needs no introduction to anyone. The Christmas blockbuster with Will Ferrell is one of the most watched productions during the holidays. Last year it was even the most popular, as Samba TV proved in the report. Elf has been competing with National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation for the title of best Christmas movie for 3 years.

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And unfortunately, this year it had to give up its title, as a new Samba TV study shows that National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation is the most watched Christmas movie in 2024 (via Forbes). After looking at the data regarding the audience of Christmas movies between November 1 and December 10, it turned out that this time Elf was not watched more often than National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, which is why it came in second place.

From the Samba TV study, we can learn that National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation was viewed in 9.4 million households, an increase of 7% compared to last year, when the score for the film starring Chevy Chase was 7.9 million. Elf, on the other hand, was viewed in 8.7 million households.

That's how Ashwin Navin, co-founder and CEO of Samba TV, described the situation of rival Christmas films for the past three years:

The last place on the podium went to Home Alone, another beloved Christmas movie that is always worth returning to. It has a considerably lower viewing score compared to the first two places, although it's still big, as Kevin McCallister's adventures drew 4.1 million households in front of the screens.

The top five Christmas movies of 2024 still include Four Christmases and The Holiday, which ranked fourth and fifth, respectively.

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