Dwayne Johnson's Christmas Movie Red One May Be A Box Office Disaster In The Making
Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson recently made his grand return to wrestling with the WWE, but the star might be taking his "heel" persona a little too far these days.
There's absolutely nothing unusual in Hollywood when it comes to the delicate art of managing high-profile egos — just ask Vin Diesel, who knows all too well from his days bumping heads with his famous co-star during the "Fast and Furious" saga – but things seem to have escalated to a whole new level on the set of Amazon Studios' upcoming Christmas film "Red One." That's the latest scuttlebutt according to extensive reporting by Umberto Gonzalez of The Wrap, who paints an alarming picture of habitual lateness, deeply unprofessional behavior, and producing inexperience in several crucial roles. All of these factors seem to have come together to turn what was initially envisioned as a straight-to-streaming original and a potential franchise starter into a bloated blockbuster with a lengthily delayed theatrical release that has allegedly run far over budget.
So what is "Red One," anyway? Described as "Hobbs and Shaw" meets "Guardians of the Galaxy" meets "Miracle on 34th Street," hilariously enough, the movie stars The Rock, Chris Evans, and J.K. Simmons as Santa Claus himself in a plot where jolly ol' Saint Nick is kidnapped from the North Pole and two highly-skilled professionals must save the holiday season. Much of the early reporting on the film touted the project as a business venture more than a cinematic experience (Amazon's announcement included this humdinger of a line: "This unique concept represents a property that could encompass not only a tentpole film but could reach beyond entertainment across multiple industries and businesses"), which perhaps foreshadowed the troubles that would eventually befall this production. Buckle up, folks, because this is a truly wild story.
The Rock was allegedly missing in action
We've come a long, long way since "Black Adam" was meant to change the hierarchy of power in the DC Universe. In the years since Dwayne Johnson's blockbuster ambitions flamed out, the star's once-invulnerable reputation seems to have taken a bit of a hit. That's been done no favors in this newest story by The Wrap, which cites numerous sources close to the production of "Red One" who point the blame squarely at the leading man. According to several insiders, The Rock consistently showed up late on filming days (as much as eight hours, apparently), repeatedly forcing director Jake Kasdan ("Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle") to shoot around the missing actor. For its part, Amazon MGM firmly denies the allegations, stating:
"Dwayne Johnson and Seven Bucks have been incredible partners on 'Red One' — a film that audiences of all ages are going to love this holiday season. Our testing has been very strong — the reaction from CinemaCon speaks for itself — and we couldn't have made it without Dwayne's constant work and support. Any reporting that implies that we got to this point with him showing up seven-eight hours late to set is both ridiculous and false."
But contrary to The Rock's self-promoted branding as one of the hardest working figures in the industry, the report indicates that his blasé approach to "Red One" is part of a pattern of tardiness spanning his work on "WrestleMania" (as reported by a local ABC affiliate), the HBO series "Ballers," the 2018 blockbuster "Rampage," and his appearances in the "Fast and Furious" movies. This also seems to have put him squarely in the crosshairs of the mild-mannered Ryan Reynolds, who reportedly got into a "huge fight" with Johnson after waiting five hours for him to arrive on the set of Netflix's "Red Notice."
Johnson's unprofessional behavior
And now for the weirdest — and grossest — wrinkle in this story. Not only did Dwayne Johnson's consistent lack of punctuality drive up costs on "Red One" by millions of dollars, according to reporting, but sources who've worked with the actor previously were quick to mention numerous other examples of unprofessionalism that only further soured his reputation. Anyone who's attended school with classmates who were part of the wrestling team likely knows about the phenomenon of spitting in water bottles in order to make their intended weight class, but this takes things to even more of an extreme. Rather than attempt to describe the sordid details, I'll just let an anonymous source cited by The Wrap explain:
"On set, away from his trailer, if [Dwayne Johnson] needs to pee, he doesn't go to the public bathroom. He pees in a Voss water bottle and his team or a [production assistant] has to dispose of it."
Although the report doesn't indicate that this was a common occurrence during the production of "Red One," such alleged behavior puts The Rock in an even more unflattering light. As if that wasn't bad enough, Johnson is also alleged to have broken COVID procedures and quarantine rules during the filming of "Red Notice" while other cast and crew, most of whom didn't have the luxury of The Rock's private jet, had no choice but to follow the strict guidelines. Taken as a whole, Johnson's alleged work ethic (or lack thereof) appears to have rankled many of the individuals who've collaborated with him previously. As one source succinctly put it, "Dwayne truly doesn't give a f***."
Red One's soaring budget and producing problems
Perhaps the biggest impediment to the prospects of success for "Red One," however, might be a perfect storm of producing inexperience on the part of Dwayne Johnson's team. As troublesome as it is that The Rock's lateness may have contributed to the film soaring far above its budget of $250 million, the actor's insistence on placing producing partner Hiram Garcia in a role of significant responsibility appears to have played an even bigger role in the unfolding mess. The brother of Johnson's ex-wife Dany Garcia, Hiram started out as Johnson's personal assistant before ultimately moving up to President of Production on the star's Seven Bucks production company and becoming lead producer on "Red One." His lack of knowledge regarding producing apparently showed. As one Universal insider cited by The Wrap put it: "Hiram went from making Dwayne's protein shakes to running his company."
That said, Amazon MGM once again stood by its creative and business partners, saying in a statement:
"Hiram Garcia, who conceived the original idea for this film, is an incredibly talented, diligent and responsive producer who brought a wealth of experience to our production."
Between Garcia's involvement and many of Amazon executives' own inexperience in managing a production on the scale of "Red One" — the report singles out Amazon MGM feature and production executives Julie Rapaport and Glenn Gainor, neither of whom had the background required to oversee a blockbuster budget — the film's outlook doesn't seem promising. One source claims the hefty costs don't reflect on-screen, saying, "It should look like a $200 million-plus movie, but it doesn't because more than half goes to buyouts of the stars and the above-the-line."
The release of "Red One" has since been delayed to November of 2024, so stay tuned.