'Red One' Has a Weak Opening Weekend
by EG
Dwayne Johnson's Christmas movie Red One managed to take the top spot in the box-office race away from Venom: The Last Dance this weekend, but Johnson's debut was anything but a smashing success. Red One took in a modest $34 million at the domestic box office, but given its gigantic production budget and terrible reviews, the movie is far from likely to turn a profit. Read on for details.
Via Variety.
“Red One,” a Christmas-set action comedy starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson as Santa’s head of security, unwrapped a soft $34.1 million from 4,032 North American theaters in its box office debut.
Those ticket sales were enough to top the domestic box office, ending the three-week reign of “Venom: The Last Dance.” However, the Amazon MGM film cost $250 million before accounting for global marketing efforts of roughly $100 million. So “Red One” is bound to spark yet another debate about what qualifies as a success at a time when streaming services are scrambling traditional business models. Case in point: “Joker: Folie à Deux,” which was released by Warner Bros., was instantly labeled a flop with $37 million to start against a $200 million budget. But last year’s “Killers of the Flower Moon,” from Apple and director Martin Scorsese, was categorized more favorably after opening to $23 million despite a similarly huge production cost.
Although a $34 million domestic debut isn’t terrible for an original Christmas flick that was initially commissioned for streaming, “Red One” will need to play in theaters through the holiday season to justify its massive price tag. Critics disliked the movie (it holds a 33% “rotten” average on Rotten Tomatoes). But lucky for Amazon MGM, audiences were charmed by the story about the kidnapping of Santa (J.K. Simmons), whose hostage situation sparks a rescue mission by his North Pole body guard (Johnson) and a skilled bounty hunter (Chris Evans). The film landed an “A-” grade on CinemaScore from inaugural crowds.
Get the rest of the atory at Variety.