Two Takes on One Holiday Villain Are Hogging Peacock’s Top 10 and a Sequel Could Change Everything

Halloween is still on the calendar, but streaming audiences have never been shy about skipping ahead. Every year, holiday movies start creeping up the charts long before the decorations come out, and some of them barely leave in the first place.

Peacock’s movies chart this week shows exactly how that plays out. ‘Disclosure Day’ sits at number 1 and ‘Coraline’ holds number 3, while seasonal picks like ‘Monster House’ and ‘Boo! A Madea Halloween’ keep the spooky lane busy. Wedged between them, though, is something that has nothing to do with October at all.

Two separate Dr. Seuss adaptations about the same green grouch are currently in the top 10 at once. ‘The Grinch’ sits at number 2 after an astonishing 157 days on the chart, while ‘How the Grinch Stole Christmas’ holds number 5 after 64 days, and neither moved a single spot this week.

The animated ‘The Grinch’ arrived in 2018 from Illumination, with Benedict Cumberbatch voicing the title character. The story follows a solitary Grinch living in a cave on Mount Crumpit with his dog Max, who decides to steal Christmas after the Whos announce they will celebrate it 3 times bigger this year. The film was also a major commercial hit, grossing over 520 million dollars on a 75 million dollar production budget.

The live-action ‘How the Grinch Stole Christmas’ is the older of the two, and its staying power is just as impressive. Released just ahead of Thanksgiving in 2000, it was the top movie of the year domestically, and it has landed among Nielsen’s top 10 most streamed holiday movies in each of the past 5 years. It also won the Academy Award for best makeup, and earned over 345 million dollars at the worldwide box office.

That long streaming tail helps explain why the live-action film is suddenly back in the conversation. Universal Pictures and Imagine Entertainment are developing a live-action sequel to the 2000 film, with Jim Carrey in talks to reprise his role and Ron Howard set to return as director. The news first came out in June, and it was a surprise to many fans who assumed the Carrey version would remain a one-off.

The creative team behind the project is notable too. Alec Berg, Jeff Schaffer, and David Mandel are writing the script, the same trio that worked on the 2003 live-action ‘The Cat in the Hat.’ No plot details have been made available, and the sequel is currently untitled, so for now fans are left guessing whether it will follow the book sequel or head somewhere new entirely.

Carrey’s participation remains the biggest question mark. The actor nearly quit the original film because he found the elaborate makeup process so grueling, and he has talked in the past about how any return would depend on finding a better way to bring the character to life. Nothing about his involvement is officially locked in yet.

For viewers, the picture is much simpler. The 2018 version offers the modern, family-friendly take, while the 2000 film remains a cult favorite with a mean streak, and Peacock happens to host both. With a sequel now in motion, it would be surprising if both stayed out of the top 10 once December rolls around.