Arnold Schwarzenegger is back for Christmas, and this time he is the one delivering the presents. Prime Video unveiled the full trailer for The Man With the Bag on November 2, 2026, revealing Schwarzenegger as Santa Claus alongside Alan Ritchson as the thief recruited to save Christmas. The holiday heist comedy premieres globally on Prime Video on December 2, 2026, thirty years after Schwarzenegger's last Christmas movie, Jingle All the Way.
What the trailer reveals
The trailer opens with Ritchson's Vance, a skilled pickpocket and thief, sitting with his young daughter Emma at a diner when a mysterious job offer arrives with a life-changing payout. His new client, Kris, turns out to be Santa himself, who takes Vance and Emma on a ride in his flying sleigh. A rogue elf with a grudge, played by Awkwafina, has stolen Santa's magic red bag, and Christmas itself is suddenly at risk.
Santa recruits Vance from his Naughty List, and Vance assembles a crew of criminally skilled misfits, with help from elves and reindeer, to pull off what the film's logline calls the most unexpected heist of their lives. The trailer even gives Schwarzenegger a chance to revive one of his most famous catchphrases, cheerfully declaring, "I'm back!"
A stacked cast and a familiar director
The Man With the Bag is directed by Adam Shankman from a screenplay by Allan Rice. Alongside Schwarzenegger and Ritchson, the ensemble includes Berkeley James as Emma, Michael Cyril Creighton, Liza Koshy, Kyle Mooney, Jane Krakowski, Ken Jeong and Awkwafina. The film promises what its official logline describes as "a holiday heist adventure about second chances, unlikely friendships, and discovering that sometimes even Santa needs a little help delivering Christmas."
For Ritchson, it is his third feature film of the year, after War Machine for Netflix and Runner for Angel Studios, on top of a new season of Reacher. For Schwarzenegger, it is his first movie released since 2019's Terminator: Dark Fate and his first Christmas film in three decades, a gap that makes the Santa casting feel like both a joke and a homecoming.
Why fans are talking about it
The pairing is the hook: the action star who once hunted the season's hottest toy in Jingle All the Way now plays the man who delivers them all, teaming up with television's toughest modern action hero. Early reactions to the trailer have focused on that unlikely chemistry, the New York location shooting, and the film's mix of action, comedy and festive heart. Whether it becomes a new Christmas classic will be decided on December 2, when it lands on Prime Video just in time for the holiday season.
Takeaway: The Man With the Bag is the most fun trailer drop of the young holiday season: Schwarzenegger as Santa, Ritchson as the thief on his Naughty List, and one stolen bag standing between the world and Christmas.
Watch: The official trailer for The Man With the Bag, with Arnold Schwarzenegger as Santa Claus
Music in this post's reel: Kevin MacLeod - Silly Fun (incompetech.com), licensed under CC BY 3.0
Sources: Collider, ComicBook.com, JustJared, ComingSoon.