Box Office: Dwayne Johnson-Chris Evans’ Christmas Pic ‘Red One’ Battling for $30M Opening

The big-budget holiday debut from Amazon MGM Studios is sure to win the weekend, but it's unclear if it will meet its goal.


Red One, the Christmas film starring Dwayne Johnson and Chris Evans, brought in almost $11 million on Friday, topping the US box office list. Now, the question is if it can reach its goal and reveal a $30 million opening.

Despite the fact that the bulk of Red One ticket buyers on opening day were men (54 percent), Amazon MGM Studios has always thought the film is a Saturday and Sunday production rather than a Friday one. One significant distraction on Friday was the Mike Tyson-Jake Paul fight on Netflix.

This weekend, Red One will be shown in 4,032 theaters across North America, including Imax, Dolby Cinema, and other high-end large-format screens. The action-adventure movie received an A- CinemaScore from viewers, despite the fact that many critics didn't think it was good. Amazon gave the movie a big-screen makeover in an attempt to help exhibitors, even though its initial plan was to deliver it directly to its streaming service Prime Video.

Tracking indicated that the domestic debut for the film was between $30 million and $35 million going into an otherwise quiet weekend. In order to avoid a direct confrontation with Paramount's Gladiator II, which is making its foreign box office debut this weekend one week before its domestic premiere, Warner Bros. Pictures is distributing the Seven Bucks picture abroad, where Red One opened to $28 million. (The Gladiator sequel directed by Ridley Scott might gross up to $80 million or more abroad.)

Red One cost $250 million to film, so its box office performance will be widely watched. If a movie with that price tag opened to those figures, a large legacy studio in the same scenario would face heavy criticism, but Amazon maintains that its revenue model is different and driven by subscriptions rather than just box office. Additionally, Red One is expected to perform during the year-end holidays and establish itself as a Christmas classic for many years to come.

However, if it doesn't make $30 million, it would be a letdown.

Since The Grinch debuted in 2018, Red One is the first authentic Christmas film to be shown in theaters since before the pandemic.

The family-friendly film tells the story of Santa Claus, whose code name is "Red One," being abducted and the need for the North Pole's head of security (Johnson) to work with the most notorious bounty hunter in the world (Evans) in what Amazon MGM calls an action-packed, world-trotting quest to save Christmas.

Starring Lucy Liu, Kiernan Shipka, Bonnie Hunt, Kristofer Hivju, Nick Kroll, Wesley Kimmel, and J.K. Simmons, Red One is directed by Jake Kasdan and is based on a story by Hiram Garcia and a screenplay by Chris Morgan. In the United States, it has received negative reviews and is rated PG-13.

After a difficult fall due to a lack of product, Red One is the first of several year-end tentpoles getting ready to open and, if everything goes according to plan, put the box office back on Santa's pleasant list. On November 22, Universal's Wicked and Paramount's Gladiator II make their premieres, and on November 27, Walt Disney Animation's Moana 2 follows. (Many have called the well-known corridor "Glicked" or "Moanapocalypse.")