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In case there was ever any question, Hallmark superstar — and now overnight Netflix sensation — Lacey Chabert has cemented her status as the Queen of Christmas movies.
Though former Hallmark actress Candace Cameron Bure likely qualifies as the runner-up with 15 holiday flicks to her name since 2008, per Parade, Chabert has not only appeared in more Christmas movies but ratings show her mass appeal is through the snow-covered roof.
After starring in over a dozen Hallmark Christmas movies and with another on the way, Chabert just starred in her first holiday movie for Netflix — “Hot Frosty,” which premiered on November 13, 2024 — and it quickly became the streamer’s most-watched movie of the week, per The Wrap.
Meanwhile, her home base for more than a decade, Hallmark Channel, is crushing the Christmas competition in cable TV ratings, and her highly-anticipated Thanksgiving weekend rom-com hasn’t even aired yet.
Lacey Chabert’s ‘Hot Frosty’ is Seriously Hot
With a bit more freedom to appear on other networks now that Hallmark is no longer requiring its talent to sign exclusivity agreements, Chabert decided to dip her toe in Netflix’s 2024 holiday pool by signing on to “Hot Frosty,” co-starring “Schitt’s Creek” alum Dustin Milligan as a snowman with a six-pack who comes to life and falls for Chabert’s recently widowed character.
Written by Russell Hainline, who also wrote three upcoming Hallmark holiday movies including the highly-anticipated “Three Wiser Men and a Boy,” critics and viewers have loved the absurd premise of “Hot Frosty” and say it feels like the actors are in on the joke.
In a roundup of reactions to the movie compiled by USA Today, one person tweeted, “watched hot frosty on netflix yesterday + the joy i felt from the sheer ridiculousness of it is everything i want in a holiday rom-com. the fact we’re all rooting for lacey to fall in love with a SNOWMAN is UNHINGED! 5 stars!”
On November 14, Netflix posted an Instagram promo for the movie in which Milligan humorously gives Chabert a special sash welcoming her to the “Netflix Holiday Universe” and crowns her the “Queen of Christmas.” Later that day, her royal highness watched “Hot Frosty” shoot to streamer’s top spot as the most-watched Netflix movie in the U.S., which Chabert celebrated in a separate post.
She wrote, “So thankful for everyone who has watched so far!! This movie was such a special experience and I hope it warms your heart all season long! ❤️”
Even Cameron Bure, who has two holiday films on Great American Family this season, admitted she got a kick out of the movie. She commented on Chabert’s post, “Congratulations Lacey!!!! Cheering you on!! And the movie is SOOO good 🥰”
According to The Wrap, “Hot Frosty” drew a whopping 16 million viewers in its first week on Netflix. Christina Milian’s “Meet Me Next Christmas,” which premiered on November 6, came in second on the list of most-watched movies there, with 11.8 million views.
A Christmas Queen Never Rests: Lacey Chabert Promotes is Still Hallmark Royalty, Too
Chabert could probably kick back and just enjoy the rest of her holidays as the queen of her movie castle, but she’s already out promoting her next project, “The Christmas Quest” co-starring Hallmark hunk Kristoffer Polaha, which premieres on Hallmark Channel on December 1.
Though Netflix has a massive built-in streaming audience with nearly 283 million paid subscribers worldwide, per Statista, Hallmark is the ratings juggernaut when it comes to cable TV during the holiday season.
Its 2024 holiday programming began on October 18 with the promise of 47 brand new original movies and multiple Christmas-themed series airing across Hallmark Channel and Hallmark Mystery, in addition to its two-month-old streaming platform, Hallmark+.
As more people get in the mood for cozy holiday rom-coms, Hallmark Channel’s ratings have grown week after week since mid-October, according to Forbes. During the same week “Hot Frosty” was dominating Netflix, Hallmark became the third most-popular cable channel in primetime and total-day viewership, beating out both MSNBC and CNN, Forbes said. Only Fox News and ESPN had higher ratings.
Hallmark told Forbes that as of November 19, over 20 million unique viewers had already tuned into its holiday programming, with the most popular movie so far being “Santa Tell Me,” starring Erin Krakow and Daniel Lissing with fun cameos from Hallmark hunks like Benjamin Ayres and Christopher Russell.
Chabert’s newest movie, filmed entirely in Iceland, is slotted in one of Hallmark’s most sought-after spots on the Sunday after Thanksgiving, proving the network has faith the Queen of Christmas will deliver a ratings winner again. In 2023, “Merry Scottish Christmas” — her movie with former “Party of Five” co-star Scott Wolf — quickly became the most-watched cable movie of the year.