Hallmark, the NFL and Skydance Sports are teaming up with the Chicago Bears on a holiday movie called “Holiday Touchdown: A Bears Love Story,” a project that puts the franchise at the center of a nationwide Christmas franchise later in 2025. The movie will film in and around Chicago this summer, and Hallmark is already looking for extras to work July 7-8 as football fans.
The announcement arrived Thursday in a video posted by Ben Johnson and Colston Loveland, giving the Bears a fresh spotlight at a moment when the club is trying to sell more than football. Hallmark said the project will be part of the network’s 17th annual “Countdown to Christmas,” extending a series that began in 2024 with the Kansas City Chiefs and continued last year with the Buffalo Bills.
For Hallmark, the appeal is obvious. Darren Abbott said the company wanted to keep the tradition going after the first two Holiday Touchdown films, and Jessica Matthews said few fan bases carry their team’s history the way Chicago carries the Bears. The club echoed that idea, saying the movie will showcase iconic locations, beloved traditions and the passion around the franchise. That promise matters because the film is not being treated as a generic sports romance; it is being tied directly to the city and the identity of the team.
The production details make the project feel even more rooted in Chicago. Extras who want to appear in the July scenes must show up for fittings June 29-30 and wear Bears apparel and winter attire while filming. The cast for the third collaboration will be announced later, so the movie’s biggest names remain unknown for now even as the setting and brand are locked in.
There is also a sharper edge to the timing. The Bears are pushing ahead this month on plans for a new stadium in Hammond, Indiana, which means the club is selling Chicago on screen even as its future footprint is being sorted out elsewhere. Kevin Warren said the movie gives the team and its fans a chance to grow together through something special and meaningful, but the contrast is hard to miss: one story leans into Chicago tradition, while another points to a new home still taking shape.
For now, the clearest answer is that the Bears are getting a holiday movie franchise of their own, and the first public faces of it are already on social media. The next reveal is the cast, but the more immediate one is simpler: this summer, Chicago will become the set, and the Bears will become part of Hallmark’s Christmas lineup.
