Dwayne Johnson’s ‘Red One’ Gets Luke Warm Box Office Reception Despite A Massive Budget

The Amazon MGM Studios- Seven Bucks produced feature, ‘Red One,’ took just $10.9 million from 4,032 theaters across North America at the box office on its opening day.

Dwayne Johnson and Chris Evans‘ mega-budget Christmas actioner looks set to earn just $30 million despite its $250 million production budget, plus significant marketing costs.

‘Red One’ Opening Weekend At The Box Office

Competing with “Wicked,” “Gladiator II” and “Moana 2” that arrived ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday, the special-effects adventure playing premium large format ‘Red One’ has some catchup to play.

With a market cap northwards of $2 trillion, Amazon may not be concerned about the cost of “Red One.” In 2021, Amazon bid big for the project, betting that the film could be a holiday season monster on Prime Video, which supplements Amazon’s e-commerce business.

Originally commissioned as a Prime Video exclusive before Amazon added a wide release, the film’s box office profits may just be a Christmas bonus despite being Amazon’s biggest opening weekend since “Creed III,” commissioned under MGM’s old regime.

“Red One” is off to a better start than last spring’s expensive action Apple play movie “Argylle,” which took just $96 million at the box office against a $200 million budget before hitting Apple TV+,  which has a significantly smaller audience than Amazon Prime.

Dwayne Johnson and Chris Evans in ‘Red One’

‘Red One’ is unlikely to match the opening weekends of Johnson’s “Black Adam” at $67 million ot “Jungle Cruise” at$35 million.

Since Evans  finished playing Captain America in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, his leading live-action roles have been limited to streaming.

Directed by Jake Kasdan, the plot of combat-trained specialists rescuing a kidnapped Santa Claus (J.K. Simmons) is the main story-line in ‘Red One.’

Critics panned ‘Red One,’ audiences disagreed. Scoring ‘A-” on moviegoer pollster Cinema Score, the film is still a long way off Venom 3 which has now surpassed $120 million in North America and $400 million worldwide.

“The Best Christmas Pageant Ever” slipped 54%, but on a $10 million production budget, the Lionsgate release is set to cross $20 million in North America this weekend, while A24’s psychological thriller “Heretic”  will also cross $20 million by Monday.

Universal’s “The Wild Robot” looks set to earn another $4.5 million this weekend in its eighth weekend of release, accumulating $137 million domestically. Lupita Nyong’s “A Quiet Place: Day One” will likely be the 12th highest-grossing North American release this year, with $138 million.