# List of Hallmark Channel Original Movies (2020s)
[Hallmark Channel](https://www.edgepedia.org/hallmark-channel) original movies of the 2020s are the made-for-television films produced for Hallmark Channel and its sister networks during the decade beginning in 2020, continuing the feel-good romance and holiday formula that the company had built into a year-round programming engine since its first original holiday movie aired in 2000.[1](https://spectrum.library.concordia.ca/995753/1/LAUZIER_MA_F2025.pdf) • [2](https://www.hallmarkchannel.com/about-us) The decade's slate combined the established formula, roughly 40 new Christmas films per year at its peak, with new seasonal events, more diverse casts and premises, and, from 2024, a dedicated streaming service, Hallmark+.[3](https://www.tvinsider.com/941873/hallmark-christmas-movies-2020-schedule-cast/) • [4](https://cm-press-site-2021.s3.amazonaws.com/HALLMARK_Plus%20ANNOUNCMENT_07.11.24.pdf)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| 2020 holiday slate | 40 all-new original Christmas films premiered across Hallmark Channel and Hallmark Movies & Mysteries[3](https://www.tvinsider.com/941873/hallmark-christmas-movies-2020-schedule-cast/) |
| 2025 holiday slate | 24 new original movies debuted in Countdown to Christmas, starting October 18[5](https://www.mostlychristmas.com/images/HallmarkChristmas2025.pdf) |
| Production budget | Roughly $2.5–3 million USD per movie, with locations and props reused across films and shooting concentrated in Canada for tax incentives[6](https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/15274764231171070) |
| Streaming | Hallmark+ replaced Hallmark Movies Now in September 2024, priced at $7.99 per month or $79.99 per year, with next-day streaming of new Channel premieres[4](https://cm-press-site-2021.s3.amazonaws.com/HALLMARK_Plus%20ANNOUNCMENT_07.11.24.pdf) • [7](https://www.tomsguide.com/entertainment/streaming/hallmark-christmas-movies-2025-when-and-where-to-stream-all-24-original-movies) |
| Diversity milestone | *The Holiday Sitter* (2022) was Hallmark's first movie to feature a same-sex couple as the central romance[8](https://www.hallmarkpedia.com/) |
| Sports crossovers | *Holiday Touchdown: A Chiefs Love Story* (2024), with the NFL and Skydance Sports, was the #1 most-watched cable movie of 2024[9](https://corporate.hallmark.com/news-article/hallmark-media-nfl-skydance-sports-the-world-champion-kansas-city-chiefs-team-up-for-new-christmas-movie-holiday-touchdown-a-chiefs-love-story/) • [10](https://docs.publicnow.com/viewDoc.aspx?filename=44204%5CEXT%5CFC9748498D109D96CBBEBD9AA67306A54937AC85_BF9A1C713C580326C34636F60BB68D2BEC886A3D.PDF) |
| Franchise | *Christmas on Cherry Lane* (2023) was followed by three sequels on Hallmark+ in 2024[11](https://apnews.com/article/d4451b1563a274f490d9505fa23afd27) |
## Annual output and programming events
The decade opened at peak volume. For the 2020 holiday season Hallmark announced 40 all-new original films across its two movie networks, Hallmark Channel and Hallmark Movies & [Mysteries](https://www.edgepedia.org/mysteries), including a fourth *Christmas in Evergreen* installment starring Rukiya Bernard and [Holly Robinson Peete](https://www.edgepedia.org/holly-robinson-peete).[3](https://www.tvinsider.com/941873/hallmark-christmas-movies-2020-schedule-cast/) • [12](https://lollychristmas.com/2020/07/hallmark-announces-40-original-christmas-movies-for-2020/) [Countdown](https://www.edgepedia.org/countdown) to Christmas, which traces back to the channel's first original holiday movie in 2000, was billed in Hallmark's upfront announcement as "the #1-rated holiday network".[1](https://spectrum.library.concordia.ca/995753/1/LAUZIER_MA_F2025.pdf) • [13](https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250403760814/en/Hallmark-to-Release-a-Robust-Slate-of-Original-Movies-and-Series-Introducing-New-Genres-Expansive-Holiday-Content-and-Returning-Fan-Experiences-for-2025-2026-Upfronts/)
The 2025 Countdown to Christmas slate was 24 new original movies starting October 18, a reduced count compared with the roughly 40 films the network had become known for.[5](https://www.mostlychristmas.com/images/HallmarkChristmas2025.pdf) Outside Christmas, the decade's calendar followed the seasonal-event strategy: Hallmark Channel ran the Passport to Love event in June 2025 with movies set in Spain, Italy and Peru, and [Christmas in July](https://www.edgepedia.org/christmas-in-july) programming continued in summer, later adding the reality series *Christmas at Sea*.[14](https://www.whattowatch.com/watching-guides/christmas-at-sea-release-date-trailer-cast-and-everything-we-know-about-the-hallmark-channel-series)
## Representative films of the decade
**Early 2020s.** The 2020 slate included *One Royal Holiday* and *Christmas by Starlight*, both of which remained in rotation years later.[15](https://www.tvinsider.com/network/hallmark--channel/schedule/) 2022 produced *Three Wise Men and a Baby*, in which three brothers care for an abandoned baby through the holidays, and *The Holiday Sitter*, Hallmark's first movie with a same-sex couple as the central romance.[15](https://www.tvinsider.com/network/hallmark--channel/schedule/) • [8](https://www.hallmarkpedia.com/) *A Biltmore Christmas* cast screenwriter Lucy Hardgrove, played by [Bethany Joy Lenz](https://www.edgepedia.org/bethany-joy-lenz), to remake the beloved holiday movie "His Merry Wife!", with [Kristoffer Polaha](https://www.edgepedia.org/kristoffer-polaha) and [Jonathan Frakes](https://www.edgepedia.org/jonathan-frakes); it became one of the network's library staples.[16](https://www.hallmarkchannel.com/movies)
**2024 and the sports partnership.** *Holiday Touchdown: A Chiefs Love Story* paired Hallmark with the NFL, Skydance Sports, and the [Kansas City Chiefs](https://www.edgepedia.org/kansas-city-chiefs), filming entirely in Kansas City locations including GEHA Field at [Arrowhead Stadium](https://www.edgepedia.org/arrowhead-stadium), the first time that stadium had been used as a Hallmark filming location.[9](https://corporate.hallmark.com/news-article/hallmark-media-nfl-skydance-sports-the-world-champion-kansas-city-chiefs-team-up-for-new-christmas-movie-holiday-touchdown-a-chiefs-love-story/) It ranked as the #1 most-watched cable movie of 2024, ahead of *Three Wiser Men and a Boy* at #2.[10](https://docs.publicnow.com/viewDoc.aspx?filename=44204%5CEXT%5CFC9748498D109D96CBBEBD9AA67306A54937AC85_BF9A1C713C580326C34636F60BB68D2BEC886A3D.PDF) The partnership continued with *Holiday Touchdown: A Bills Love Story* (2025), starring [Holland Roden](https://www.edgepedia.org/holland-roden) and Matthew Daddario with cameos from Buffalo Bills players, coaches, and alumni, set in the neighborhoods around Highmark Stadium.[7](https://www.tomsguide.com/entertainment/streaming/hallmark-christmas-movies-2025-when-and-where-to-stream-all-24-original-movies)
**2025.** The 24-movie slate included *She's Making a List*, with [Lacey Chabert](https://www.edgepedia.org/lacey-chabert) as a "Naughty or Nice" inspector for Santa who falls for a widowed father played by Andrew Walker; the Brenner-family sequel *Three Wisest Men* (Paul Campbell, Tyler Hynes, Andrew Walker, Margaret Colin); *We Met in December* ([Autumn Reeser](https://www.edgepedia.org/autumn-reeser), Niall Matter); *A Make or Break Holiday* ([Hunter King](https://www.edgepedia.org/hunter-king), Evan Roderick); and *The Christmas Baby* (Ali Liebert, Katherine Barrell, Barbara Niven), in which Erin and Kelly care for a newborn left on their doorstep.[5](https://www.mostlychristmas.com/images/HallmarkChristmas2025.pdf) • [7](https://www.tomsguide.com/entertainment/streaming/hallmark-christmas-movies-2025-when-and-where-to-stream-all-24-original-movies) Alison Sweeney and Ashley Williams starred in and executive produced two 2025 films, *To Barcelona, With Love* and *To Barcelona, Forever*.[17](https://www.wnypapers.com/news/article/current/2026/08/06/166724/hallmark-channel-reveals-3-new-original-movies-making-this-years-countdown-to-christmas)
## Streaming and format changes
**Hallmark+.** In September 2024 Hallmark replaced its Hallmark Movies Now subscription service with Hallmark+, combining ad-free streaming with retail rewards priced at $7.99 per month or $79.99 per year.[4](https://cm-press-site-2021.s3.amazonaws.com/HALLMARK_Plus%20ANNOUNCMENT_07.11.24.pdf) The service debuted content genres beyond the romance movie: Hallmark's first holiday limited series (*Holidazed* and *Mistletoe Murders*), the reality competition *Finding Mr. Christmas*, unscripted series with Lacey Chabert, Wes Brown, Ashley Williams, and [Luke Macfarlane](https://www.edgepedia.org/luke-macfarlane), the male-friendship movie trilogy *The Groomsmen* with Jonathan Bennett, Tyler Hynes, and B.J. Britt, and the scripted series *The Chicken Sisters*.[4](https://cm-press-site-2021.s3.amazonaws.com/HALLMARK_Plus%20ANNOUNCMENT_07.11.24.pdf) New Hallmark Channel premieres stream on Hallmark+ the day after their broadcasts.[7](https://www.tomsguide.com/entertainment/streaming/hallmark-christmas-movies-2025-when-and-where-to-stream-all-24-original-movies) Franchises also migrated to streaming: writer Rick Garman's 2023 Hallmark Channel hit *Christmas on Cherry Lane* was followed by three sequel films on Hallmark+ in 2024.[11](https://apnews.com/article/d4451b1563a274f490d9505fa23afd27)
**The formula as a genre.** Andrea Braithwaite, a scholar of television and popular culture, argues in a 2023 study that the Hallmark movie should be understood as a genre in its own right, defined by "difference in repetition": the same character types, iconography, and storylines recombined across the many films produced each year.[6](https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/15274764231171070) Screenwriters in the field describe the commercial logic directly: villains are "misguided" people who learn their lesson by the end, and the certainty that everything turns out well is why audiences watch.[11](https://apnews.com/article/d4451b1563a274f490d9505fa23afd27) The formula is recognizable enough that community theaters stage parodies of it, such as Don Zolidis's *The Holiday Channel Christmas Movie Wonderthon*.[18](https://apnews.com/article/a2ffe1465b9492e88c58d683904ac87b)
## What changed during the decade
Three shifts define the 2020s slate relative to the 2010s. First, representation broadened: the network aired its first movie with a same-sex couple as the central romance (*The Holiday Sitter*, 2022), a Hanukkah-centered interfaith movie (*Oy to the World*), and, in 2025, *The Christmas Baby*, about two women caring for a newborn together.[8](https://www.hallmarkpedia.com/) • [19](https://www.thedailybeast.com/obsessed/hallmark-hanukkah-movie-oy-to-the-world-is-surprisingly-worth-watching/) • [7](https://www.tomsguide.com/entertainment/streaming/hallmark-christmas-movies-2025-when-and-where-to-stream-all-24-original-movies) Second, holiday output contracted: 2020's 40 Christmas films fell to 24 new originals in 2025, with some series slots taking the place of movie premieres.[3](https://www.tvinsider.com/941873/hallmark-christmas-movies-2020-schedule-cast/) • [5](https://www.mostlychristmas.com/images/HallmarkChristmas2025.pdf) Third, distribution reorganized around Hallmark+, which introduced formats the linear networks had not carried, including limited series and reality competition shows, while the flagship channel remained the premiere venue for new movies.[4](https://cm-press-site-2021.s3.amazonaws.com/HALLMARK_Plus%20ANNOUNCMENT_07.11.24.pdf)
## References
1. [The Hallmark company and its television history (MA thesis, Concordia University)](https://spectrum.library.concordia.ca/995753/1/LAUZIER_MA_F2025.pdf)
2. [About Hallmark Channel](https://www.hallmarkchannel.com/about-us)
3. [Hallmark Announces 40 New Christmas Movies for 2020, TV Insider](https://www.tvinsider.com/941873/hallmark-christmas-movies-2020-schedule-cast/)
4. [Hallmark+ announcement, Hallmark Media press release (July 11, 2024)](https://cm-press-site-2021.s3.amazonaws.com/HALLMARK_Plus%20ANNOUNCMENT_07.11.24.pdf)
5. [Hallmark Countdown to Christmas 2025: 24 New Original Movies starting 10/18](https://www.mostlychristmas.com/images/HallmarkChristmas2025.pdf)
6. [From Brand to Genre: The Hallmark Movie, Andrea Braithwaite, Television & New Media (2023)](https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/15274764231171070)
7. [Hallmark Christmas movies 2025 — when and where to stream all 24 original movies, Tom's Guide](https://www.tomsguide.com/entertainment/streaming/hallmark-christmas-movies-2025-when-and-where-to-stream-all-24-original-movies)
8. [HallmarkPedia](https://www.hallmarkpedia.com/)
9. [Hallmark Media, NFL, Skydance Sports & Kansas City Chiefs Team Up for Holiday Touchdown: A Chiefs Love Story, Hallmark Corporate](https://corporate.hallmark.com/news-article/hallmark-media-nfl-skydance-sports-the-world-champion-kansas-city-chiefs-team-up-for-new-christmas-movie-holiday-touchdown-a-chiefs-love-story/)
10. [Hallmark 2025–2026 upfronts release (Nielsen rankings of 2024 cable movies)](https://docs.publicnow.com/viewDoc.aspx?filename=44204%5CEXT%5CFC9748498D109D96CBBEBD9AA67306A54937AC85_BF9A1C713C580326C34636F60BB68D2BEC886A3D.PDF)
11. [How to write a holiday rom-com for TV, according to the experts, AP News](https://apnews.com/article/d4451b1563a274f490d9505fa23afd27)
12. [Hallmark Announces 40 New Original Christmas Movies for 2020, LollyChristmas.com](https://lollychristmas.com/2020/07/hallmark-announces-40-original-christmas-movies-for-2020/)
13. [Hallmark to Release a Robust Slate of Original Movies and Series for 2025-2026 Upfronts, Business Wire](https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250403760814/en/Hallmark-to-Release-a-Robust-Slate-of-Original-Movies-and-Series-Introducing-New-Genres-Expansive-Holiday-Content-and-Returning-Fan-Experiences-for-2025-2026-Upfronts/)
14. [Christmas at Sea: release date, cast and everything we know, What to Watch](https://www.whattowatch.com/watching-guides/christmas-at-sea-release-date-trailer-cast-and-everything-we-know-about-the-hallmark-channel-series)
15. [Hallmark Channel TV Schedule & Listings Guide, TV Insider](https://www.tvinsider.com/network/hallmark--channel/schedule/)
16. [Movies on Hallmark Channel](https://www.hallmarkchannel.com/movies)
17. [Hallmark Channel reveals 3 new original movies making this year's Countdown to Christmas, WNY Papers](https://www.wnypapers.com/news/article/current/2026/08/06/166724/hallmark-channel-reveals-3-new-original-movies-making-this-years-countdown-to-christmas)
18. [Stage spoofs of Hallmark TV movies are Christmas gifts for theaters, AP News](https://apnews.com/article/a2ffe1465b9492e88c58d683904ac87b)
19. [Yes, There Really Is a Hallmark Hanukkah Movie Called Oy to the World, The Daily Beast](https://www.thedailybeast.com/obsessed/hallmark-hanukkah-movie-oy-to-the-world-is-surprisingly-worth-watching/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Awards and screen reference › Collective, character, and franchise filmographies › Studio and company catalogs*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license