Hallmark Sets 34 Films for Countdown to Christmas 2026

Hallmark has set 34 original films for this year's Countdown to Christmas, its annual holiday programming block that fills the schedule in the weeks before 25 December.

The line-up was detailed by The Hollywood Reporter, which reports the season will run from mid-October into early December with new premieres across successive weekends.

The early stretch lands in quick succession. 'Tis the Season for Setups opens the run on Oct. 16, starring Amanda Schull, Victor Webster and Barbara Niven. It is followed on Oct. 17 by Holiday Touchdown: A Bears Love Story, then Mr. & Mrs. Christmas on Oct. 18, starring Brendan Penny and Pascale Hutton.

Holiday Touchdown is Hallmark's third collaboration with the NFL, meaning the league has worked with the broadcaster on three holiday projects. The new film centres on the Chicago Bears and premieres Oct. 17.

Later in the season, Hallmark is leaning on location shoots. Holiday Ever After: A Disney World Wish Come True premieres Nov. 28 and was filmed on location at Disney World in Florida. The setting puts the story inside the theme park resort rather than on a studio set.

A second event film closes the announced dates. A Grand Biltmore Christmas premieres Dec. 5 as a follow-up to 2023's A Biltmore Christmas. It was filmed at the Biltmore estate in Asheville, North Carolina, the historic house and grounds that also hosted the earlier film.

Alongside the films, Hallmark will add three new episodes of Mistletoe Murders. The series joins the holiday block as episodic television, meaning three separate instalments rather than a single feature-length movie.

For fans, this means new titles arrive almost back-to-back from October, with familiar faces early on and two large-scale location productions holding the late-November and early-December slots.