Christmas action comedy Red seems destined to be a financial and critical disappointment, but the film might have been more successful if it had been made 10 years ago. The film received mostly negative reviews and had an absurdly high budget. Red It seems unlikely that you will get your money back. These factors combined clearly place Red defensively, but there’s another, perhaps more surprising, reason why the film’s 2024 release was probably always going to end in failure.
RedThe cast of is, at least in a vacuum, a perfect mix to attract moviegoers to theaters, starring Dwayne.”The rock“Johnson and Chris Evans as its dual leads, with many other well-known actors in supporting roles. However, with Rednegative reviews and changes in the way people view his films, the film feels like a product of a bygone era. This is particularly true considering how Evans and Johnson’s careers have gone in the 10 years since 2014.
Dwayne Johnson and Chris Evans were best placed to play Red One a decade ago
The combination of their star power could have turned anything into a success
If it was released in 2014, a film like Red could have potentially been a huge hit thanks to the attraction its two co-stars used to have. Dwayne Johnson is still a certified movie star, but it’s been proven that his name alone isn’t enough to get people to go out and watch a movie, with Black Adam and Jungle Cruise as prime examples. In contrast, IIn 2014, The Rock Could Headline a Franchise to Successwith its involvement in the Fast and Furious franchise (among other successful projects) highlighting its appeal.
With Johnson and Evans seemingly struggling to replicate their past success, their headlining value may be much lower than it was 10 years ago.
The other big star is also, unfortunately, in the same boat, but to an even worse degree. Chris Evans’ run in the MCU ended with Avengers: Endgame in 2019, and Since then, his career has been mostly a disappointmentwith a great initial postANDndgame paper in Knives outfollowed by very little. Disappointments like Light year, The Gray Manand Ghost all demonstrate how he struggled to find his feet after leaving Steve Rogers behind. With Johnson and Evans seemingly struggling to replicate their past success, their headlining value may be much lower than it was 10 years ago.
Red One could have been a bigger hit in 2014, even with negative reviews
10 years ago, a rotten soundtrack wouldn’t sink a film like this
In addition RedFor the two co-stars, it’s important to recognize broader industry trends that may have impacted the film. In recent years, the film and TV landscape has changed drastically, and Red It feels like a film that hasn’t kept up with the times. In the modern market, If a film fails to establish itself as an event, many potential viewers are happy to wait for it to come to streamingespecially with more family-oriented films. If the choice is between spending $60 to take your whole family to see the poorly rated movie Redor to watch one of Netflix’s hundreds of Christmas movies in roughly the same quality, the answer seems obvious.
However, in 2014, the media landscape was very different. Even if a film was panned by critics, there wouldn’t be a series of similar films coming directly to everyone’s TV, so it was theater or nothing. If Red Had it been released in 2014, with the same level of quality, the film probably would have been more successful as the holiday film of the year, but as it stands, the film feels like it will just be another footnote to perhaps find some streaming success in the upcoming holiday seasons.