Synopsis
For years, the post office has delivered mail addressed to Santa Claus to the small isolated community of North Station, the closest thing they know name-wise to the North Pole. Sometime in the 1950's, teen-aged North Station residents Samuel and his girlfriend Evelyne continue a tradition started by Samuel's grandfather Edgar - who recently passed away - of personally answering those letters as Santa Claus. Because of a snowstorm, those letters written by Samuel and Evelyne can't be delivered before Christmas, so Samuel takes it upon himself to see those letters make it out of North Station on time. However, Samuel's ski-doo is found abandoned in the woods, and Samuel is thought to have perished in the storm. Fifty years later, there are fewer letters written every year because fewer children believe in the magic of Santa Claus. One of the letters that is written is from a young girl named Satia - Evelyne's granddaughter - who has a special Christmas wish for her ailing grandmother. The letter gets into the hands of one person who doesn't quite know its meaning but thinks he can do something to fulfill its wish, and in turn help re-instill a little bit of magic back into Christmas. However, a mishap that occurs during the fulfillment of the wish might threaten the entire existence of Christmas.
Scores
Popularity Percentile (Year)
56.4%
Box Office Percentile (Year)
28.8%
Critic Consensus
65.7% Fresh • 204 critic reviews
Critic reception is mixed, with 66% of 204 logged reviews marked Fresh. Across reviews, critics repeatedly emphasize thin plot, romantic, emotional. Common reservations focus on thin plot, even when reviewers praise standout elements.
thin plotromanticemotionalthought-provokingvisually strikingpsychologicalcharacter-drivenstylizedgrittylighthearted
Cast
| Cast | Year | Reported Salary | Inflation Adjusted | Notes |
|---|
| George Clooney | 2002 | $4,054,000 | $7,070,000 | (est) |
| Natascha McElhone | 2002 | $2,496,000 | $4,352,000 | (est) |
| Jeremy Davies | 2002 | $1,879,000 | $3,277,000 | (est) |
| Viola Davis | 2002 | $1,536,000 | $2,679,000 | (est) |
| Ulrich Tukur | 2002 | $1,314,000 | $2,292,000 | (est) |
Aggregated Reviews
Rotten Tomatoes critic score66.0
RT critic review count207
Rotten Tomatoes audience score59.0
RT audience rating count25,000
IMDb rating5.5
IMDb votes100
Box Office ?
| Category | Year | Reported | Inflation Adjusted |
|---|
| Domestic | 2002 | $171,400 | $298,878 |
| International | 2002 | N/A | N/A |
| Worldwide | 2002 | $171,400 | $298,878 |
Earnings / Profitability
Estimated net revenues and net expenses for films based on reported and estimated numbers. This income statement should be considered most viable for the first 24 months after the inital movie's release (ie after most lucrative pay windows).
| Category | Year | Reported | Inflation Adjusted |
|---|
| Revenues |
| Theatrical Net Revenue | 2002 | $85,700 | $149,439 |
| Digital Rentals ? | 2002 | $5,000 | $8,719 |
| Digital Purchases ? | 2002 | N/A | N/A |
| Physical Rentals ? | 2002 | $5,730,000 | $9,991,668 |
| Physical Purchases ? | 2002 | $10,684,000 | $18,630,188 |
| TV & Streaming Revenue | 2002 | $77,130 | $134,495 |
| Total Revenues | 2002 | $16,581,830 | $28,914,509 |
| Expenses |
| Budget ? | 2002 | $47,000,000 | $81,956,088 |
| Print & Advertising (P&A) ? | 2002 | $137,000 (est) | $238,893 (est) |
| Participations | 2002 | $332,000 | $578,924 |
| Residuals ? | 2002 | $1,210,000 | $2,109,933 |
| Interest & Overhead | 2002 | $7,990,000 | $13,932,535 |
| Total Expenses | 2002 | $56,669,000 | $98,816,374 |
| Movie Net Profit or Loss | 2002 | $-40,087,170 | $-69,901,865 |
Similar Movies
| Poster | Movie | Year | Match | Overall | Est. Profit |
|---|
 | Elf | 2003 | Shared genres: 4 | 92.8 | $104,188,811 |
 | Kapoor & Sons | 2016 | Shared genres: 4 | 75.7 | $22,993,535 |
 | Ride Your Wave | 2020 | Shared genres: 4 | 64.3 | $22,338,937 |
 | Unaccompanied Minors | 2006 | Shared genres: 4 | 61.9 | $8,169,470 |
 | The Perfect Holiday | 2007 | Shared genres: 4 | 60.6 | $9,535,503 |
Tooltips
- Digital Rentals: PVOD, VOD, & On-Demand
- Marketing & distribution costs to release Movie in Theaters. Includes: Online & Offline Ads, Posters, Trailer Production, and physical or digital copies (formerly "prints") sent to cinemas.
- Net Digital Purchase Revenue
- Net Revenues for Physical Rentals: VHS, DVD, BluRay (when appropriate)
- Physical Purchases: VHS $3,068,000, DVD $7,616,000, BluRay $0
- Reported or Estimated Net Budget (after tax, product placements, & grants)
- Theatrical box office grosses split into Domestic, International, and Worldwide totals.
- Union-modeled residuals using SAG-AFTRA and WGA schedules as a simplified estimate proxy.
- reestimate_prior_estimate;covid_mult=1.00;peer_count=0;reg_box_pred=495698;reg_main_pred=1859972
Budget Tooltip
Reported or Estimated Net Budget (after tax, product placements, & grants)
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