Despite the litany of harsh evaluations from the critics, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s new Christmas collaboration with Chris Evans, Red One, is winning over theatergoers in droves. Heading into the flick’s opening weekend, a host of scathing critiques accumulated on Rotten Tomatoes, which left director Jake Kasdan’s holiday film registering a mere 33% on the Tomatometer against 120 reviews. However, fans are now raving about Red One, which has resulted in an RT Popcornmeter 57 points higher than the movie’s dismal Tomatometer.
Red One has now been “Verified Hot” and registers 90% on the Popcornmeter (per Rotten Tomatoes), formerly the RT audience score. And it was the fans who helped Evans and Johnson’s Christmas film finish as the No. 1 movie at this weekend’s box office with $34.1 million domestically, courtesy of The Numbers. Additionally, audiences who graded Kasdan’s latest project coming right out of cinemas gave Red One an impressive “A-” CinemaScore. So, while critics might have been incredibly unkind to the Amazon MGM Studios release, fans are of the opposite opinion.
Holiday fever wasn’t just confined to the United States either. Red One opened internationally last weekend and has currently made $50 million overseas. With those international numbers, Evans and Johnson’s big-screen team-up amassed a worldwide total of $84.1 million. However, while the film jingled itself all the way into the No. 1 spot at the box office, Red One still fell short of the $100-million mark. And with a production budget of $250 million, not to mention its advertising and marketing price tag, Red One still has a long way to go before it can proclaim “Merry Christmas to all, and to all a goodnight.”
‘Red One’ Director Defends The Rock’s So-Called ‘Misbehavior’
Despite Red One’s scathing reviews from the critics, audiences still gravitate toward this and other movies starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. However, it’s clear that his recent projects haven’t fared as well at the box office since his second collaboration with Jake Kasdan in 2019’s Jumanji: The Next Level, which made $801.7 million worldwide (per Box Office Mojo).
Since then, the Johnson-led titles Jungle Cruise ($220.9 million), DC League of Super-Pets ($207.6 million) and Black Adam ($393.5 million) have hardly been global blockbusters, and Johnson’s reputation has taken a hit in recent years. One of the latest rumors concerned Johnson’s alleged “misbehavior” on set (showing up late, urinating in bottles on set). Red One’s director, Kasdan, said the rumors were exaggerated, telling The Hollywood Reporter:
“Wildly — and largely inaccurate […] He’s good to every single person he encounters. In hundreds of days of shooting, I’ve never seen him be anything but a totally stand-up, generous dude with everybody that he works with and everybody he encounters. The guy that you see out in the world and that he presents is very much what he’s like, and if I didn’t love working with him, I wouldn’t keep doing it. He’s that great.”
Related Red One Rotten Tomatoes Score Won’t Make Dwayne Johnson & Chris Evans Very Merry
Most critics are leaving it with a lump of coal.
For those who are still on the fence about whether to watch Dwayne Johnson’s latest film in theaters, or just wait for it to hit digital, be sure to check out MovieWeb’s Red One review. MW’s critique calls the holiday flick “a surprisingly clever Christmas action-comedy,” though it takes on too many characters and leans too much on its CGI. We have it a score of 3 out of 5 stars.
After Santa Claus is kidnapped, the North Pole’s Head of Security (Dwayne Johnson) must team up with a notorious bounty hunter (Chris Evans) in a thrilling, globe-spanning mission to save Christmas. This action-packed holiday adventure mixes comedy and festive magic, with an ensemble cast that includes Lucy Liu and J.K. Simmons.
Release Date November 15, 2024
Runtime 123 Minutes
Production Company Seven Bucks Productions, Amazon Studios, The Detective Agency, Chris Morgan Productions
Producers Barry H. Waldman , Chris Morgan , Dwayne Johnson , Dany Garcia , Hiram Garcia , Melvin Mar
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