US Box Office | Red One wins the weekend with 34 million

The battle at the US Box Office for the Christmas holidays officially opened this weekend thanks to Red One, an action movie by Amazon.

Image Credit: Amazon MGM Studios

Driven by a monstrous budget of around 250 million dollars, Red One won the North American box office with an estimated collection of 34.1 million dollars, above the "extremely low" estimates of analysts (30/35 million). The film produced by Amazon and distributed by Warner Bros also collected 14.7 million dollars from 75 international markets in its second weekend of programming, for a worldwide total of 84.1 million. Seen in this way, the Christmas blockbuster with Dwayne Johnson and Chris Evans can only be considered a crazy flop, but there are some mitigating factors. 

In the original plans of Amazon MGM Studios, in fact, the film was supposed to debut directly on Prime Video, but the strategy was then changed to allow Red One to expand the audience, and create more emphasis around a project with the potential to become a true Christmas classic for years to come. In this regard, the film was panned by critics, but favored by the public. While waiting to find out how much Amazon's strategy can pay off, we remind you that Red One will have to resist the clash of the titans with Gladiator 2 next weekend, a film that debuted internationally over the weekend with a spectacular $87 million (via THR).

Red One | Production Notes

The film was directed by Jake Kasdan from a screenplay by Chris Morgan, based in turn on an original story by Hiram Garcia. IN THE CAST Chris Evans, Dwayne Johnson, Kiernan Shipka (Chilling Adventures of Sabrina), J.K. Simmons, Nick Kroll, Kristofer Hivju, Wesley Kimmel, Mary Elizabeth Ellis, and Lucy Liu. Producers include Hiram Garcia, Dwayne Johnson, Dany Garcia of Seven Bucks Productions, Chris Morgan of Chris Morgan Productions, and Jake Kasdan and Melvin Mar of The Detective Agency. 

EPs are Barry Waldman and Ainsley Davis of Chris Morgan Productions, with John Wildermuth and Sky co-producing Salem Robinson of The Detective Agency. Warner Bros. Pictures will handle international distribution as part of its overall deal with Amazon MGM Studios. Official Plot: In the film, the North Pole’s security chief (Dwayne Johnson) must team up with the untrustworthy Jack O’Malley (Chris Evans) to save Santa Claus (J.K. Simmons) from kidnapping. Red One will hit theaters on November 15, 2024, and will later arrive on Prime Video.