Dwayne Johnson Christmas Action Movie Red is now available to stream on Prime Video less than a month after its theatrical release, but that's not because of box office numbers. Christmas movies arrived in early 2024, and among them is the action comedy Red. Directed by Jake Kasdan, Red takes the audience to the North Pole to meet Callum Drift (Johnson), commander of the ELF (Enforcement and Fortification Logistics) and, therefore, head of security at the North Pole. On Christmas Eve, Santa Claus (JK Simmons) is kidnapped and it's up to Callum to rescue him.
Mythological Supervision and Restoration Authority director Zoe Harlow (Lucy Liu) tracks down hacker Jack O'Malley (Chris Evans), the latest in the chain who will lead them to Santa Claus. Callum is forced to team up with Jack and together they discover that the person behind Santa's kidnapping is the winter witch Gryla (Kiernan Shipka). Red received negative reviews and has a 30% score from critics on Rotten tomatoes against a 90% audience score, and now, after less than a month in theaters, it's available to stream — but it has nothing to do with its box office performance.
Red One is coming to streaming much earlier than the Amazon story suggests
Red One's streaming release date is very strange
As mentioned above, Red is now available to stream on Prime Videobut it's an even stranger decision when looking at Amazon's history with theatrical films moving to streaming. While there is no exact number of days studios have to wait before a film is released on a streaming platform, the approximate wait is 40 to 120 daysoften more and sometimes less, although this is rare. Some examples of great productions that were released on Prime Video are The beekeeper (after 173 days), Challengers (158 days), and Creed 3 (99 days).
Even smaller productions, such as comedy-drama My old assfell into that window, waiting 55 days before arriving on Prime Video. Redhowever, it only waited 24 days after its theatrical release be available to stream, making it a rarity in Prime Video history. Certainly, this will allow it to reach a wider audience who may not have heard of it or not be interested enough to see it on the big screen, but this decision to release it on streaming so soon doesn't seem to be the case. related to its box office performance.
Red One still performs well at the box office based on realistic expectations
Overall, Red One did well at the box office
Red It's not a box office success and it didn't break even, but it still performed well. Red was made with a budget of US$250 millionthis being the final number after it was reportedly increased due to production issues with Johnson, who was reportedly late to set every day and sometimes not even showing up. Of course, increasing the budget also increased the amount of money Red had to break even, leaving it at at least $500 million. Red raised US$165.9 millionand while it didn't quite live up to its budget, it's not exactly a flop.
Even with the negative critical reception, the general public was much more receptive Redand its box office numbers prove it.
Red performed well enough to rank among the highest-grossing Christmas films of all timenow ranked 18th, where Four Christmases it used to get $163.7 million. Even with the negative critical reception, the general public was much more receptive Redand its box office numbers prove it. Red also did well watching Johnson's films outside of big franchises like Fast and Furiousthe DC Universe, Jumanjiand Disney Moana.
According to The Numbers, Red ratings above Tooth Fairy, The Game Planand The Scorpion King in Johnson's filmography, and just below The other guys and Baywatch. Johnson has obviously had more success in big franchises and films that aren't part of them haven't achieved high numbers, but Red now occupies a fairly good position in his filmography. Even with its cast of big names, Red wasn't really designed to be a huge box office success, but it still did well, all things considered.
Red One's streaming launch is clearly tied to Christmas
Red One will be released just in time for the holidays
Red isn't a box office flop when you consider factors like Johnson's track record outside of franchises, the history of Christmas movies at the box office, and his box office milestones, so its early streaming release isn't related to it – but it's definitely related to Christmas. As mentioned above, Christmas movies were released in theaters earlier this year, even before the holiday spirit finally kicked in. Red now available to stream is about the Christmas season, and it had to be ready for a wider audience in time for Christmas.
Red One may finally find its audience on Prime Video.
RedThe quick launch of streaming could end up being very beneficial for it, not only because it will be available to stream during the holidays, but because it could finally find its audience on Prime Video. Recently, many films that did not perform well in theaters (both critically and commercially) have found success on streaming, and Red could be on that list. Red It really wasn't a box office flop, and its early streaming release was more of a Christmas decision than one based on performance.
Source: The Numbers.