Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Christmas movie “Jingle All the Way” became a box office hit in 1996, and 30 years later he’s back with another festive action comedy in “The Man with the Bag.” This time, he’s brought “Reacher” star Alan Ritchson along for the ride, and we just got our first full look at the holiday heist comedy via its first full-length trailer.
“The Man with the Bag” sees Arnie play Santa Claus himself, who, after his sack of presents is stolen by an elf, enlists the help of a criminal called Vince (Ritchson) to retrieve it. The pairing of Ritchson and Schwarzenegger makes a lot of sense. Both are major action stars who’ve demonstrated their comedic chops in several projects, Ritchson’s most recent example being the Prime Video action comedy “Playdate.” In that sense, the “Reacher” star is vying to become the modern-day Arnie and is surely hoping “The Man with the Bag” comes to represent an unofficial passing of the action-comedy torch.
Thus far, it’s been tough to know what to make of “The Man with the Bag.” In 2024 we learned Schwarzenegger and Ritchson were making a Christmas comedy with an unbelievable premise. Amazon then delivered a teaser trailer in September 2026, which provided a tease of Arnie and his co-star’s rapport. Now, we have our first good look at the movie, and it certainly looks to be an enjoyable watch even if it’s not necessarily destined to become a holiday classic.
Arnie and Alan Ritchson team up to save Christmas in the latest trailer for The Man with the Bag
Prime Video has plenty of great Christmas movies already, and now the streamer is hoping to add another to its catalog with “The Man with the Bag.” The latest trailer for the Adam Shankman-directed film reveals a lot more about the plot, opening with a scene in which Alan Ritchson’s career criminal Vince is seen sitting alongside his daughter, Emma (Berkeley James). It seems he’s been away for four years, likely serving a prison sentence, and now that he’s out he’s back to his old tricks.
His latest client, Kris, is revealed to be Santa himself, who’s hired Vince to help retrieve his sack of gifts ahead of Christmas. A “disgruntled elf” who became “obsessed with shiny things” and who calls herself Nadia Nice (Awkwafina) has taken the bag and checked into a fancy hotel. It’s here that Santa and his new criminal cohort attempt a heist to retrieve the bag and save Christmas.
It looks as though we’ll be getting plenty of amusing back-and-forths between the two leads along the way, with Santa reinstilling some magic into Vince’s life and helping him bond with his daughter. We knew the movie was shot on-location in New York (via Ritchson’s Instagram) but it’s nice to see from the trailer that many of the scenes actually look like it rather than most of the footage looking like it was shot in a streaming-age green screen hellscape.
“The Man with the Bag” is set to hit Prime Video on December 2, 2026, when it will hopefully manage to remind us of the infinite joys of the Christmas action movie.