Arnold Schwarzenegger is Santa Claus in The Man with the Bag, and Christmas is in trouble before he even starts his deliveries. A rogue elf with a grudge, played by Awkwafina, steals his red bag. Santa’s answer is to recruit Alan Ritchson’s thief from the Naughty List. The official teaser above introduces the unlikely team before the family holiday comedy reaches Prime Video worldwide on December 2, 2026.
Santa needs a thief
The 51-second teaser, released on September 30, introduces the unusual team one member at a time. At about seven seconds, a close shot focuses on Santa’s ornate belt and bare hands instead of his face.
Ritchson’s close-up follows at roughly 13 seconds.
Awkwafina appears in an elf costume among workshop toys around the 20-second mark.
Schwarzenegger appears as Santa later in the clip, which closes on the December date card. The quick sequence moves from Santa’s costume to the thief and the elf behind the theft, while Amazon’s synopsis adds that elves and reindeer help the crew.
Once Schwarzenegger appears as Santa, the teaser gives him a brief line:
“I’m back!”
— Arnold Schwarzenegger as Santa in the official teaser
Thirty years after Jingle All the Way
The role brings Schwarzenegger back to Christmas films *30 years after Jingle All the Way***. In the 1996 comedy, he played Howard Langston, a work-focused father who promises his son the toy at the top of his wish list, then spends Christmas Eve searching for the sold-out Turbo Man action figure. This is a different story, not a sequel: Schwarzenegger is Santa himself. Howard had to find one child’s missing present; Santa has to recover the bag he needs for Christmas.
Santa’s recruit is responsible for building the recovery crew, while elves and reindeer also help. Awkwafina’s rogue elf starts the mission by stealing the bag, and Santa looks to someone already on the Naughty List to get it back. The story gives the thief a concrete job beyond joining the trip: he must bring together the people who can pull off the heist before Santa’s biggest night arrives. Because the recruit is someone Santa has already marked as naughty, the mission puts a second chance at the center of Santa’s plan. Amazon’s synopsis connects the partnership to an unlikely friendship as well as to the bag recovery.
Who joins the Christmas heist?
Schwarzenegger and Ritchson lead a larger cast that includes Berkeley James, Michael Cyril Creighton, Liza Koshy, Kyle Mooney, Jane Krakowski, and Ken Jeong. Their character details have not been announced in Amazon’s teaser update. Ritchson comes to this movie as the lead of Reacher, another Prime Video title, but here he plays the thief Santa needs. The 2024 Amazon Upfront presentation introduced him as the star of Reacher and said he was developing a holiday movie with Amazon; this film pairs him with Schwarzenegger.
Who’s who in The Man with the Bag
Adam Shankman directs from a screenplay by Allan Rice. Shankman’s films include Hairspray, Bedtime Stories, The Pacifier, and Cheaper by the Dozen 2. He directed and choreographed Hairspray, adapted from the Tony-winning Broadway musical. His television work includes episodes of Monk, Glee, Modern Family, and Only Murders in the Building. That background includes both broad family comedies and stories with large ensembles, two things this Santa-and-thief pairing calls for.
When and where to watch
Amazon first introduced the film at its Upfront presentation on May 14, 2024, under the title Man with a Bag, with a 2025 release target. Even then, the premise had Santa searching the Naughty List for the thief who could recover his stolen bag. The company had announced December 2 by its May 2026 Upfront, before releasing this teaser. The September footage is a new look at a film that already had its release date, not the first announcement of that date.
The old target and the confirmed premiere are different, but those announcements do not explain why the schedule changed. There is no reason to guess at a production problem or attach a cause that Amazon has not given.
For viewers planning their holiday watchlist, December 2 is the date to use. The film is not streaming yet; its announced release is on Prime Video worldwide. That leaves time to revisit Jingle All the Way before Schwarzenegger takes on the other side of Christmas, as the man whose missing bag puts everyone’s presents at risk.
