Image Credit: Amazon MGM Studios / Prime Video — Official Trailer/Poster via YouTube
The Man with the Bag trailer gives Christmas movies a brilliantly silly twist: Arnold Schwarzenegger is Santa Claus, and the only man who can save Christmas is a thief straight off the Naughty List. Amazon MGM Studios has unveiled the full trailer for the holiday heist comedy, and it pairs Schwarzenegger with Reacher star Alan Ritchson for a New York City caper that is equal parts festive, funny and action-packed. The film premieres exclusively on Prime Video on December 2, 2026, right at the start of the holiday season.
Read more in our Ladaku post, with additional trailer coverage from Hypebeast and Amazon.
Directed by Adam Shankman from a script by Allan Rice, The Man with the Bag is not a gentle North Pole story. It is a heist film dressed in a Santa suit, and the trailer leans hard into that joke. Here are the five most exciting details from the trailer, and everything you need to know before the film arrives on Prime Video.
1. Arnold Schwarzenegger Plays Santa Like Never Before
The Man with the Bag trailer opens on a Santa who is in real trouble. Schwarzenegger, in white beard and red coat, plays a Santa whose most important possession has vanished. This is his return to Christmas comedy nearly three decades after Jingle All the Way in 1996, but the role is very different this time. Instead of a desperate father hunting for a sold-out toy, he is the man in charge of Christmas itself, watching his whole operation fall apart.
What makes the casting work is Schwarzenegger’s comic timing. The trailer lets him play Santa as warm, commanding and just a little out of his depth in the criminal underworld. He is not winking at the audience; he genuinely believes a thief is the only answer, and that sincerity is what makes the premise funny.
2. A Stolen Bag Turns Christmas Into a Heist
The heart of The Man with the Bag trailer is the theft that sets everything in motion. Santa’s iconic red bag, the one that holds presents for children around the world, is stolen by a rogue elf with a grudge. Played by Awkwafina, the elf is Nadia Nice, a disgruntled elf with a taste for luxury who retreats to a high-end hotel in New York City with the bag.
Without the bag, there is no Christmas delivery, and the clock is ticking towards Santa’s biggest night of the year. The trailer frames the recovery as a proper heist: a target building, a team to assemble, and a plan that has to work in one night. That ticking deadline gives a Christmas comedy the urgency of an action film, and it is the smartest move in the whole trailer.
3. Alan Ritchson Is the Thief From the Naughty List
If Santa cannot steal his own bag back, he needs someone who can. Enter Alan Ritchson as Vince, a career criminal newly released after a four-year prison sentence. Vince is trying to rebuild his life and his relationship with his daughter Emma, played by Berkeley James, when Santa comes calling with an offer he cannot quite refuse.
Ritchson brings the same grounded action presence that made Reacher a hit, but the trailer also shows his comic side. He is the straight man in a deeply unserious situation, reacting to elves, reindeer and Santa’s earnest planning as if this were just another job. The pairing is the film’s engine: the world’s most famous gift-giver teaming up with a man famous for taking things that are not his.
4. A Big Ensemble Joins the Christmas Caper
The Man with the Bag trailer is not a two-man show. Vince quickly assembles a crew of criminally skilled misfits, with help from elves and reindeer, to pull off the hotel heist. The supporting cast is stacked with comic talent: Michael Cyril Creighton, Liza Koshy, Kyle Mooney, Jane Krakowski and Ken Jeong all feature, alongside Awkwafina and Berkeley James.
That ensemble matters because a heist film lives or dies on its crew. The trailer hints at a team where everyone has a job, a quirk and a reason to be there, and the mix of seasoned comic actors and action energy suggests the film will balance laughs with genuine set pieces. Shot on location across New York City rather than on green-screen sets, the film also gets a real, wintry city to play in, which should make the hotel heist feel bigger and more grounded.
5. When and Where to Watch The Man with the Bag
The Man with the Bag premieres globally on Prime Video on December 2, 2026. It is an Amazon MGM Studios film, so Prime Video is the exclusive home for its streaming debut, and the early-December date puts it right at the start of the peak holiday viewing period. No theatrical release date has been announced, so streaming is the way to watch it.
For viewers planning a Christmas movie night, that timing is perfect. The film is built for a family audience that wants action, comedy and holiday heart in one sitting, and its story about second chances and unlikely friendship fits the season. If you enjoyed Schwarzenegger’s comic turns or Ritchson’s action work, this is the rare film that gives you both at once.
Why The Man with the Bag Trailer Works
The trailer works because it never apologises for its premise. A stolen magic bag, a rogue elf, a thief on the Naughty List and a hotel heist in New York should not fit together, yet the trailer makes each piece feel inevitable. Santa needs a thief, the thief needs a second chance, and Christmas needs them both to succeed. That is a simple, strong story, and it is why the trailer has travelled so fast since Amazon MGM Studios released it.
It also helps that the film knows its history. Schwarzenegger returning to Christmas comedy thirty years after Jingle All the Way is a talking point in itself, and pairing him with one of streaming’s biggest action stars gives the film a modern edge. Holiday movies can feel disposable; this one feels like an event, and the trailer is the reason why.
The Man with the Bag: Quick Facts
Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger as Santa, Alan Ritchson as Vince, Awkwafina as Nadia Nice, Berkeley James as Emma. Director: Adam Shankman. Writer: Allan Rice. Studio: Amazon MGM Studios. Premiere: December 2, 2026, exclusively on Prime Video. Genre: Holiday heist comedy.
The Man with the Bag trailer promises a Christmas film with a criminal twist, and with Schwarzenegger as Santa and Ritchson as his unlikely partner in crime, it is one of the most exciting holiday releases of 2026. Watch the official trailer above, mark December 2 on your calendar, and get ready for a heist that could save Christmas.
