Amazon MGM Studios got to unwrap a Christmas gift early this year: The streaming numbers are in, and Eddie Murphy‘s holiday film, Candy Cane Lane, had the studio’s biggest debut yet.
Released December 1, the movie is in the top slot worldwide on Prime Video and among the top 10 worldwide movie debuts on the service ever.
Candy Cane Lane also earned the highest reported viewership among streaming movie releases for the weekend ending December 3, in both free streaming and paid video on demand.
The film has Eddie Murphy playing a dad so determined to win his street’s Christmas lights display that he falls in with Jillian Bell‘s mischievous elf named Pepper, whose assist comes with a holiday threatening curse.
Director Reginald Hudlin told ABC Audio that all the flowers for the film’s success belong to leads Eddie and Tracee Ellis Ross, who plays Eddie’s spouse. They partner with a team of tiny magical characters —voiced by Chris Redd and Nick Offerman, among others — to save Christmas.
“You know, two of the most talented comedians finally together for the first time, their chemistry is ‘click,'” Hudlin enthuses. “You believe them as a couple. You believe them as parents.”
Hudlin adds, “They make the most implausible situations they’re in, ‘You go, okay, I believe they’re talking to who they’re talking to.’ As crazy as this is, they maintain a grounded reality that is hilarious throughout the entire film.”
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