25 Most Profitable Holiday Movies of All Time

The holidays are a mixed bag when it comes to how we feel – for some people it’s a time of cozy joy and togetherness with family; for others it’s a time of stress and over expenditures. Either way, it’s common for people to turn to comforts this time of year, and what is more comforting than a holiday movie?

According to psychologists, holiday movies provide a little bit of escapism and nostalgia. They often have “feel-good” outcomes where everyone comes away happy and gets what they want. It’s easy to see why these movies are so popular. And while new holiday movies come out every year, often bringing in big bucks, some of the most profitable holiday movies are not even new.

GOBankingRates conducted a study to determine the most profitable holiday movies of all time. Using data from Box Office Mojo, Business Insider and Rotten Tomatoes to find out factors like the worldwide box-office gross and budget of the film, the movies are ranked by total profit.

No doubt, several of your favorites likely made the cut. Without further ado, here’s a look at the most profitable holiday movies of all time.

• Year released: 1989
• Worldwide box-office gross: $74.4 million
• Budget: $27 million
• Profit: $47.4 million
• Profit percentage: 175.5%

• Year released: 2011
• Worldwide box-office gross: $147.4 million
• Budget: $100 million
• Profit: $47.4 million
• Profit percentage: 47.4%

• Year released: 2003
• Worldwide box-office gross: $76.5 million
• Budget: $23 million
• Profit: $53.5 million
• Profit percentage: 232.6%

• Year released: 2018
• Worldwide box-office gross: $174 million
• Budget: $120 million
• Profit: $54 million
• Profit percentage: 45%

• Year released: 2013
• Worldwide box-office gross: $72.8 million
• Budget: $17 million
• Profit: $55.8 million
• Profit percentage: 328.5%

• Year released: 2016
• Worldwide box-office gross: $114.5 million
• Budget: $45 million
• Profit: $69.5 million
• Profit percentage: 154.5%

• Year released: 1996
• Worldwide box-office gross: $129.8 million
• Budget: $60 million
• Profit: $69.8 million
• Profit percentage: 116.4%

• Year released: 1993
• Worldwide box-office gross: $91.5 million
• Budget: $18 million
• Profit: $73.5 million
• Profit percentage: 408.2%

• Year released: 2008
• Worldwide box-office gross: $164.1 million
• Budget: $80 million
• Profit: $84.1 million
• Profit percentage: 105.1%

• Year released: 2019
• Worldwide box-office gross: $123.5 million
• Budget: $25 million
• Profit: $98.5 million
• Profit percentage: 393.78%

• Year released: 2006
• Worldwide box-office gross: $110.8 million
• Budget: $12 million
• Profit: $98.8 million
• Profit percentage: 823.1%

• Year released: 2017
• Worldwide box-office gross: $130.6 million
• Budget: $28 million
• Profit: $102.6 million
• Profit percentage: 366.3%

• Year released: 2002
• Worldwide box-office gross: $172.9 million
• Budget: $65 million
• Profit: $107.9 million
• Profit percentage: 165.9%

• Year released: 2017
• Worldwide box-office gross: $180.6 million
• Budget: $69 million
• Profit: $111.6 million
• Profit percentage: 161.8%

• Year released: 2006
• Worldwide box-office gross: $205.9 million
• Budget: $85 million
• Profit: $120.9 million
• Profit percentage: 142.2%

• Year released: 2009
• Worldwide box-office gross: $325.3 million
• Budget: $200 million
• Profit: $125.3 million
• Profit percentage: 62.6%

• Year released: 2004
• Worldwide box-office gross: $315.2 million
• Budget: $165 million
• Profit: $150.2 million
• Profit percentage: 91%

• Year released: 1995
• Worldwide box-office gross: $182.1 million
• Budget: $17 million
• Profit: $165.1 million
• Profit percentage: 971%

• Year released: 1994
• Worldwide box-office gross: $190.5 million
• Budget: $22 million
• Profit: $168.5 million
• Profit percentage: 766.1%

• Year released: 2003
• Worldwide box-office gross: $225.1 million
• Budget: $33 million
• Profit: $192.1 million
• Profit percentage: 582.1%

• Year released: 2003
• Worldwide box-office gross: $245.2 million
• Budget: $40 million
• Profit: $205.2 million
• Profit percentage: 513%

• Year released: 2000
• Worldwide box-office gross: $345.8 million
• Budget: $123 million
• Profit: $222.8 million
• Profit percentage: 181.2%

• Year released: 1992
• Worldwide box-office gross: $359 million
• Budget: $28 million
• Profit: $339 million
• Profit percentage: 1182.1%

• Year released: 2018
• Worldwide box-office gross: $512.9 million
• Budget: $75 million
• Profit: $437.9 million
• Profit percentage: 583.8%

• Year released: 1990
• Worldwide box-office gross: $476.7 million
• Budget: $18 million
• Profit: $458.7 milion
• Profit percentage: 2,548.3%

Jordan Rosenfeld contributed to the reporting for this article.

Methodology: In order to discover the most profitable holiday movies of all time, GOBankingRates first looked at IMDb’s “Top 25 Highest-Grossing Christmas Movies,” Business Insider’s “The 45 most successful Christmas movies of all time” and Rotten Tomatoes’ “The Best Christmas Movies of All-Time” to get a base of holiday movies to select from. For each movie in this cumulative list, GOBankingRates used Box Office Mojo to find (1) the year each movie was released; (2) the total worldwide profit for the movie; (3) the budget for the movie; (4) total profit, by taking factor (2) and subtracting factor (3); and (5) the return on investment (%) that the movie made against its budget. Only factor (4) was taken into account during ranking. All data was collected on and up to date as of Nov. 22, 2022.