Love Actually among nation’s most rewatched Christmas films
A great Christmas film is one that can be watched every year when temperatures fall and tinsel hits the tree. But which festive favourites are viewed the most?
A new survey reveals the Top 3 Christmas ‘crackers’ that get us coming back for more are: Home Alone, The Snowman and Love Actually. They head a list of the 40 most re-watched festive favourites that also includes Christmas classics such as Elf, Die Hard and The Polar Express.
A Christmas Carol, Miracle on 34th Street and It’s a Wonderful Life also made the list, with 44 per cent believing the ‘classics’ are better than modern Christmas movies.
The research was commissioned by The National Lottery which gave away thousands of free tickets (including drinks and snacks) to screenings of Love Actually as a way of bringing the nation together for some festive fun. 'The National Lottery hosts Love Actually at the cinema' took place on 23rd December 2022.
A National Lottery spokesperson said, “Christmas films bring people together and create excitement ahead of the big day. But films are made for the big screen and it's great to see Love Actually is the number one British film viewers re-watch.”
Film fans who took part in the survey said they typically watch their favourite flick 8 times. A quarter of the respondents believe it’s officially Christmas once the end credits have rolled.
Reasons for re-watching films included simply enjoying it (52 per cent), feeling nostalgic (40 per cent) and it becoming a tradition (31 per cent).
The study also revealed that people watch an average of 7 Christmas films during the festive season and 24th December is the most popular day to indulge in some Christmas cinema.
More than half (53 per cent) claimed watching Christmas movies with family and friends is part of their yearly traditions and 41 per cent like to watch nostalgic titles from their childhood.
People are most likely to watch a Christmas movie with their partner (59 per cent) as well as their children (43 per cent) and parents (28 per cent). Comedies are the most popular genre (41 per cent), followed by rom-coms (28 per cent) and action titles (23 per cent).
Those polled had watched Love Actually an average of 4 times and the scene in which Hugh Grant’s Prime Minister dances was voted the most popular scene.
Other memorable Love Actually moments were Mark confessing his love for Juliet using handwritten cards (15 per cent) and the Prime Minister and Natalie getting caught kissing at the school nativity (14 per cent).
From all of us at The National Lottery, wishing all of you and yours a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
23rd December 2022
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