Arnold Schwarzenegger has been a celebrity for decades, and has made a number of hit films like the Terminator movies. He's also got a somewhat infamous Holiday movie Jingle All the Way, which some consider to be a top-tier Christmas flick. He's returning to the seasonal genre as the title character of The Man with the Bag, which is coming for those with an Amazon Prime subscription. The Governator is bringing his own take to Santa, because of course he is.
It remains to be seen if The Man with the Bag joins the ranks of the best Christmas movies, but it's got plenty going for it. In addition to Schwarzenegger's Santa, the movie also stars Reacher star Alan Ritchson. As you can see above, the first teaser just arrived, and I'm hoping that the movie ends up making some references to Jingle All the Way.
The first teaser is quick, but shows Arnold Schwarzenegger as a Santa who is trying to retrieve his bag of gifts from an elf (played by Awkwafina) who stole it. He enlists the help of Ritchson's criminal Vince to help him track it down, and all sort of hijinks ensue.
Since this clip is less than a minute long, we still don't know that many details about what'll go down when The Man with the Bag hits Amazon. Still, the idea of Arnold is playing Santa is wild enough that folks will probably stream the new movie... especially '90s kids who grew up watching him in Jingle All the Way.
Jingle All the Way (which is streaming with a Disney+ subscription) hit theaters back in 1996 and hasn't exactly aged well. In it he plays a desperate father trying to buy a Turbo Man action figure for his son, who is played by The Phantom Menace actor Jake Lloyd. The movie has been picked apart in places like the How Did This Get Made? podcast, and I really think folks would love some references or easter eggs to that movie in The Man with the Bag. Fingers crossed that actually happens.
This upcoming title is just the latest Christmas movie to come out of Amazon. Last year Michelle Pfeiffer led the cast of Oh. What. Fun., and the year before it was Dwayne Johnson and Ryan Reynolds' Red One. Both of those titles did well on the streaming service, and I have to assume that plenty of people are going to tune in to watch Arnold Schwarzenegger as Santa Clause himself.
The Man With the Bag is expected to arrive on Amazon Prime Video December 2nd as part of the 2026 movie release list. While we wait I'll keep holding my breath that there's at least an easter egg related to Jingle All The Way. Maybe a Turbo Man doll will be in the North Pole.
