The Best New Amazon Prime Video Arrivals Of December 2019
December's almost here, Santa Claus will be taking to the skies, and he won't be alone: Along with the reindeer doing all the work pulling his sleigh, the skies are going to be crowded with spaceships and balloons thanks to Amazon Prime Video. The streaming service's original programming in December includes the resurrected spacefaring series The Expanse. Closer to Earth, December also brings the Amazon original film The Aeronauts starring Felicity Jones and Eddie Redmayne as a pair of hot air balloon operators who find themselves in a desperate race to survive what could be their final flight.
Along with its original programming, Amazon Prime will bring old favorites to their service in December. Action fans will get to enjoy transforming robots, lesser-known superheroes, and a cowboy or two. Lovers of '80s drama can turn back the clock for musicals and brat pack fare, and comedy fans can rewatch — or discover — Jim Carrey's beloved take on the late Andy Kaufman.
Want more specifics? Keep reading for the best new video arrivals on Amazon Prime in December.
The Aeronauts - December 6
It's kind of funny if you think about it. For most movie fans, Felicity Jones is likely best remembered as the reluctant hero Jyn Erso in 2016's Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. But in spite of becoming a part of a franchise known for its futuristic vehicles cutting through space at light speed, it's taking a trip back in time to the 19th century for Jones to become a pilot in the Amazon original film The Aeronauts.
Jones plays daredevil pilot Amelia Wren. Accompanied by James Glaisher (Eddie Redmayne), a scientist in the still young field of meteorology, Wren takes to the sky via balloon in hopes of making new discoveries in the clouds. The pair run into trouble on one of their airborne journeys and, rather than discovering new science, they find themselves in a fight to survive.
The Aeronauts is fiction, but boasts some solid footing in actual history. While Wren is a purely fictional character, James Glaisher was a real meteorologist working in the 19th century. Director and co-writer Tom Harper told The List that the film is based on a mishmash of different historical balloon flights, and in one of those flights Glaisher was saved by real-life aeronaut Henry Coxwell. The production of The Aeronauts drew the ire of the UK's centuries-old Royal Society for "airbrushing" Coxwell out of the story. Harper responded to the criticism by saying he didn't want the movie to be "two middle-aged men in a basket."
The Expanse: Season 4 - December 13
Based on the bestselling series of novels by Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck (collectively under the pen name James S. A. Corey), The Expanse premiered on Syfy to critical and commercial success in 2015. The series follows a crew of antiheroes who uncover a vast conspiracy during a time when humanity has colonized the stars. Unfortunately, Syfy announced The Expanse's third season would be its last in May 2018. Thankfully for Expanse fans, before the month was over it was announced Amazon Prime Video was giving the acclaimed series a new home.
The Expanse's fourth season adapts the fourth installment in the book series, 2014's Cibola Burn. The show's third season ends with the crew of the Rocinante traveling through the Ring Gate to an entirely new region of space. All the surviving characters of the previous season will be returning, and The Expanse will have some new faces as well. Lyndie Greenwood joins the cast as Dr. Elvin Okoye, a UN scientist sent to explore the planet Ilus. Burn Gorman will be there as Adolphus Murtry, who wants to be the top dog on the new planet and doesn't care what he has to do to make that happen.
Expanse showrunner Naren Shankar hasn't spilled many of season 4's beans, but he did tell Entertainment Weekly to expect the season to play out like a classic Western. Mount up, Expanse fans! The new season premieres December 13.
Action
Whether you're stuck inside with tall snowdrifts waiting on the other side of the wall or you're in one of those places where the Christmas lights are strung on perfectly snow-free palm trees, Amazon Prime Video doesn't want you to be bored this December. They're bringing plenty of action flicks to the streaming service in December, including a couple that are more than meets the eye (that's a hint).
On Dec. 30, Amazon begins streaming 2011's action packed Transformers: Dark of the Moon. Earlier in the month you can watch 2018's Bumblebee starring Hailee Steinfeld, Jorge Lendeborg Jr., and wrestler/thespian John Cena.
When it comes to its superhero fare, Prime Video is going outside the box in December. As of Dec. 1, subscribers can watch 2008's Hancock in which Will Smith plays a guy with Superman-like powers who nevertheless has no idea who he is, how he got his powers, or really how to be even a halfway decent hero. Later in the month subscribers can watch 2018's Fast Color, starring Gugu Mbatha-Raw as a young homeless girl with emerging powers she hasn't learned to control. Don't expect this to be the last you see of Fast Color on Amazon, either: In July 2019, it was announced Amazon Studios is developing an original series based on the film.
December 1
Hancock (2008)
The Spirit (2008)
December 11
Fast Color (2019)
December 13
Bumblebee (2018)
December 18
The Kid (2019)
December 30
Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011)
Thriller/Horror
If you prefer your entertainment on the more thrilling and terrifying side of things — and you're not already busy reviewing our list of best and worst Christmas horror flicks — Amazon Prime Video has some new offerings in December that might pique your interest.
On Christmas Day, Prime Video begins streaming 2018's Night Hunter. The psychological thriller stars Henry Cavill as weathered Detective Walter Marshall tracking down a murderer of young women. Ben Kingsley appears as a former judge, now a vigilante launching his own investigations, while Alexandra Daddario stars as criminal profiler Rachel Chase.
Earlier in the month, Denzel Washington tries to solve a murder before he becomes the prime suspect in 2003's Out of Time, and Casey Affleck and Elisabeth Moss struggle to survive a dying world in the post-apocalyptic thriller Light of My Life.
Amazon Prime seems to have also caught a bug for, well, bugs in December. The service will offer a couple of corny '70s horror flicks that insect lovers should adore. There's 1974's Phase IV, featuring an army of sentient ants waging war on a desert's human inhabitants. And don't forget 1975's Bug, in which California earthquakes unleash foot-long cockroaches on the peaceful California city of Riverside.
December 1
Bug (1975)
Out of Time (2003)
Phase IV (1974)
December 9
Light of My Life (2019)
December 25
Night Hunter (2019)
Drama
Looking for a little drama? Everyone on dating apps says they aren't, but with movie-watching it's another story.
Amazon Prime Video's got a couple of '80s classics for drama lovers. There's the 1987 John Hughes classic Some Kind of Wonderful. If you're a fan of the "girl helps guy get other girl even though she (the first girl) likes the guy" thing, it's right up your alley. Then if you're either already a fan or you just want to know what exactly Guardians of the Galaxy's Star-Lord thinks is such a big deal, you can watch the 1984 hit Footloose.
There's some early-aughts fare as well. You can watch Leonardo DiCaprio become the legendary Howard Hughes in 2004's The Aviator. Or for something with a bit more classic rock, there's 2000's Almost Famous, about a teenager who gets tapped to tour with the fictional rock band Stillwater and write about the experience for Rolling Stone.
December 1
Almost Famous (2000)
The Aviator (2004)
Footloose (1984)
Hamlet (1990)
The Pawnbroker (1964)
Some Kind of Wonderful (1987)
December 5
The Last Black Man in San Francisco (2019)
Comedy
Amazon Prime Video is a little light on comedy offerings in December, but its new arrivals include one impressive standout – 1999's Man on the Moon. The biopic about the late Andy Kaufman is named after the REM single "Man on the Moon," which paid tribute to the unorthodox comedian. Jim Carrey plays Kaufman and reportedly stayed in character for much of the film's production, both on and off set. Carrey won a Golden Globe for his efforts and the film is largely regarded as the moment any doubts that Carrey could excel as a "serious" actor were dispelled. While the actor made his bones playing absolutely ridiculous characters like the lead of The Mask and the Ace Ventura: Pet Detective films, in the late '90s Carrey made great strides to broaden his horizons. His portrayal of a man who doesn't know he's the subject of a lifelong reality series in 1998's The Truman Show convinced many moviegoers Carrey could do more than straight comedy, and Man on the Moon convinced many of the stragglers.
December 3
My Boss' Daughter (2003)
December 30
What Men Want (2019)
December 31
Man on the Moon (1999)