‘Elf’ and ‘Love Actually’ Came Out 15 Years Ago Today, and Christmas Was Forever Changed

Where were you 15 years ago today? Wow, kind of a weirdly specific question for a day–November 7–that seems as random as March 23 or August 2. If I was to ask you where you were on, say, December 25 way back in 2003, you’d probably be able to recall a vague memory (perhaps after digging through iPhoto). So why am I asking about November 7, a day that’s definitely not as memorable as any December 25? I’m asking because November 7 should be a day that every single Christmas lover has circled in red marker on their calendars, because it’s a day that forever changed the holiday season. Fifteen years ago today, on November 7, 2003, both Elf and Love Actually were released in theaters.

Did that fact just hit you in the face like an expertly packed snowball? Are you shook, as if your husband’s BFF suddenly confessed his love to you via poster board? I’ve always been aware that Elf and Love Actually came out around the same time (I was working at a movie theater when both were released, meaning I got to see them for free, y’all!), but to learn they came out on the same day? To quote Buddy, “That’s shocking.”

It’s shocking because both movies have defied all odds and expectations to become an annual part of the holiday season. It’s practically impossible for modern movies to sneak their way into the Christmas canon, but both of these movies have–and they both came out on the same day 15 years ago.

The true test of a Christmas classic isn’t box office performance but rather the way they become an indispensable part of the holiday season. For instance, A Christmas Story was a box office shrug back in 1983 when it only grossed $20.6M domestically. It’s only through annual daylong marathons on cable that it’s become one of the biggest holiday movies of all time.

I will say, though, that Elf and Love Actually did sleigh at the box office. Elf opened at #2 (behind The Matrix Revolutions, a movie that is integral to zero seasons) and pulled in $173.4M domestically, $220.4M worldwide. Adjusted for inflation, it’s the sixth highest-grossing Christmas movie since 1980 after The Polar Express (#5), The Santa Clause (#4), Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (#3), How the Grinch Stole Christmas (#2), and Home Alone (#1).

Being a quirky British import and thus of interest to a very niche crowd in the States (I only saw it because it had that guy from the UK Office in it, Martin Freeman), Love Actually opened at #6 and only pulled in around $59.7M domestically. Coincidentally, that’s only a million more than A Christmas Story earned when adjusted for inflation, which shows you how small Love Actually was in the US. Internationally, however, the film was a juggernaut and earned $246.9M–that’s $26M more than Elf!

But again, box office totals aren’t an indicator of Christmas immortality. The Polar Express is mostly remembered as that movie starring Uncanny Valley Tom Hanks, and interest in How the Grinch Stole Christmas is spread across a stellar animated special and two, uh, I guess okay (?) feature films. Home Alone is an unimpeachable Christmas classic, but the carbon copy sequel doesn’t hold up (thanks Trump). And while The Santa Clause spawned a trilogy that spans a dozen years, you’re not seeing parade floats of Tim Allen’s Santa pop up anywhere. Even if your Christmas movie makes a lot of money, it’s easier to hit #1 with a Christmas cash-in single than to become a legit tradition.

Going with my gut, I’d say the Unofficial Christmas Canon–the movies you can watch chunks of right now by the fireplace in your Christmas memory palace–consists of:

• A Christmas Carol (whichever variation you prefer)
• Those old musicals (Holiday Inn, White Christmas, etc.)
• Those old dramas (It’s a Wonderful Life, Miracle on 34th Street)
• Those kinda naughty ’80s comedies (National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, A Christmas Story)
• And Home Alone
• Oh–and if you get kicks out of being contrarian, movies that are set at Christmas but are not specifically Christmas movies

You can now add another category: November 7, 2003.

You want proof? I got proof, all via search data pulled from Google Trends stretching back to right after Elf and Love Actually debuted! First, let’s look at how Christmas movies released around the same time as these two (2003’s Bad Santa, 2004’s The Polar Express, and 2006’s The Holiday) have fared in the following years.

Elf and Love Actually are gold medal synchronized every December, hitting peak after peak. The Holiday opened big as new Christmas movies do, but only around 13% of that audience remembers to search for it again every year. The same can pretty much be said for The Polar Express and Bad Santa.

To further illustrate just how hard it is for new Christmas movies to catch on, let’s jump ahead to the five most recent major holiday movies: 2008’s Four Christmases, 2009’s A Christmas Carol (starring Uncanny Valley Jim Carrey), 2013’s Best Man Holiday, 2015’s The Night Before, and 2016’s Office Christmas Party. Those movies grossed a combined $426M at the box office, but have people revisited them in the years since?

Just like a NOOK reading tablet or a digital picture frame, these movies were all gifts that were hot and then totally forgotten about. Compare that to Elf, which is somehow only getting more popular as the years go by!

Elf’s most-searched year was last year! This movie came out 15 years ago! The first big jump came around Christmas 2010, which is when the Elf musical opened. And the movie hit a new peak in 2014 when an animated special aired on TV. With all that exposure, Buddy the elf has become almost as integral to the season as Rudolph or Frosty–and in record time!

But what about Love Actually? How’s it faring 15 years later, without a Broadway musical or animated TV special rejuvenating annual interest?

Oh, it’s just getting bigger every year, too! While 2017 was an off year, Love Actually hit a high during the 2016 holiday season. People actually still love Love Actually.

The true test, though, is how Elf and Love Actually stack up against the all-time Christmas movie Google Trends champs: It’s a Wonderful Life, A Christmas Story, National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (and also Home Alone and White Christmas).

They’re right there in the mix with all of them, including Home Alone and White Christmas (curse Google Trends’ 5-entry limit). They can’t touch A Christmas Story and Christmas Vacation just yet, but the fact that both of them are more popular than a 70-year-old stalwart like It’s a Wonderful Life is really something.

But of all the Christmas movies that have been released this century, why these two movies? Was there something magical about November 7, 2003? Plenty of Christmas movies have tried to emulate what Elf and Love Actually pulled off. We’ve seen a lot of those sentimental, sprawling cast Christmas comedies (The Family Stone, Love the Coopers) and more than a few family-friendly romps with a magical twist (A Christmas Carol, The Grinch, The Nutcracker and the Four Realms). I think the difference is–and this is something that Buddy and that little redheaded kid who is not Prince Harry would appreciate–sincerity.

Elf and Love Actually are holiday movies that are totally unashamed of what they are and they aren’t trying to make Christmas edgy like, say, A Bad Moms Christmas or Bad Santa 1 or 2. And while Love Actually and Elf have probably made a combined billion dollars over the past 15 years, neither feel like a cash grab the way a remake starring Jim Carrey or Benedict Cumberbatch does. Christmas is already a capitalist consumerist stress-fest at times, and people maybe don’t want to revisit movies that lean into that. But Christmas is also the time when we’re all emotionally open and, fingers-crossed, at our best; we want to watch movies that feel honest, movies that say “to me, you are perfect.”

November 7, 2003 gave us two Christmas movies that are about love, about love and they don’t care who knows it. That’s why we keep coming back to Elf and Love Actually year after year. That’s why they’re part of the Christmas canon. That’s why we should keep the spirit of November 7 in our hearts all season long.

Stream Love Actually on Netflix

Where to watch Elf