Stop what you're doing, nerds — Christmas just got a whole lot more action-packed. Amazon MGM Studios and Prime Video have dropped the first full trailer for The Man with the Bag, and it might be the most gloriously unhinged holiday premise of the year: Santa Claus teams up with an ex-con to pull off a heist in New York City.
Yes, you read that right. Arnold Schwarzenegger plays Santa himself, and this marks his first festive action comedy in three decades, following his 1996 classic Jingle All the Way. If you've ever wanted to see the Terminator deliver presents and punch his way through Manhattan at Christmas, your wish has officially been granted.
Here's the setup: Santa's enchanted sack of presents gets stolen by Nadia Nice (Awkwafina), a disgruntled elf with a weakness for shiny luxuries who checks into a high-end hotel. With Christmas on the line, Santa turns to the one guy with the right skill set — Vince (Alan Ritchson), a career criminal fresh out of prison after a four-year sentence, trying to rebuild a bond with his daughter Emma (Berkeley James). Together, the most mismatched duo of the holiday season plans a high-stakes heist to infiltrate the hotel and steal the bag back.
The trailer leans hard into the buddy-comedy energy. Schwarzenegger brings the legendary comedic timing, Ritchson brings the bone-crunching action presence fans know from Reacher, and the whole thing was shot on location across New York City rather than on green-screen sets — so the snowy streets and glittering hotel lobbies feel real, because they are.
What we're most excited about:
- Santa as an action hero, again. Thirty years after Jingle All the Way, Arnold is back in Christmas mode — and this time he's running the heist, not chasing a toy.
- A villain you kind of root for. A disgruntled elf hoarding luxury goods in a five-star hotel is the kind of gloriously petty villainy we can get behind.
- A heist with heart. Underneath the chaos, it's a story about a father trying to reconnect with his daughter — with Santa as his very unexpected life coach.
Directed by Adam Shankman, The Man with the Bag premieres exclusively on Prime Video on December 2, 2026 — just in time to kick off the holiday movie season. Mark the calendar, queue up the eggnog, and get ready: this Christmas, Santa's coming to town... through the service entrance.
Are you in for a Santa heist movie, or is this the wildest holiday pitch you've ever heard? Let us know — and keep it locked to The Nerd's List for more movie news as the holiday season heats up.
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