Red Onehas turned out a disappointing week 2 drop for Dwayne Johnson. The new holiday action-comedy, which was directed by Jake Kasdan and also stars Chris Evans, follows a mismatched naughty and nice duo attempting to rescue Santa (J. K. Simmons) from kidnappers and save Christmas in the process. TheRed Onereleasekicked off two weekends before American Thanksgiving with a disappointing $32.1 million debut that paled in comparison to its budget, which is estimated to be between $200 and $250 million.
PerDeadline, as of Sunday morning,Red Oneis projected to take in a 3-day total of $13.2 million at the domestic box office during its second weekend, bringing its cumulative domestic total to $52.9 million. While this has pushed it past the $50 million domestic milestone,it marks a steep 59% week-on-week dropfrom its opening weekend. This matches the 59% drop of the 2022 Dwayne Johnson flopBlack Adam, which was already his worst drop since 2017’sThe Fate of the Furious(61.1%).
What This Means For Red One
Red One Probably Won’t Break Even In Theaters (But That Might Not Matter)
The fact that this week 2 drop is one of Johnson’s harshest of the decade is only exacerbated by the fact that the movie’s opening weekend was so low, meaning that it had to have a more substantial drop in the raw numbers than a normal blockbuster in order to have such a proportionately severe fall. Thisgets the movie nowhere near its break-even point, which, given the gargantuanRed Onebudget, is likely somewhere between $500 and $625 million.
Movies generally need to earn roughly two and a half times their budgets in order to break even in theaters.
However, the Johnson movie may be somewhat immune to its theatrical woes. The movie wasoriginally developed as a Prime Video exclusive, so its commercial success will be determined more by its performance on streaming, with theatrical grosses being more of a cherry on top of its run as a holiday streaming offering likely given pride of place every Christmas season. Even thoughRed Onereviewsearned it 31% on Rotten Tomatoes, its Verified Hot 91% audience score seems to indicate that it is getting a strong response from the general public, which may help bolster its at-home viewership.
Our Take On The Red One Week 2 Drop
Dwayne Johnson Should Recover Swiftly
Although this exacerbates Johnson’s recent run of bad luck at the box office,the star will likely turn his prospects around more or less immediately. He is returning as the voice of Maui in theupcomingMoana 2, which broke the record for the most first-day ticket pre-sales for a 2024 animated movie. Dropping just a week and a half after theRed One, the Disney animated sequel seems destined for a healthy box office run and a much slimmer week 2 drop.
Red One
Cast
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.
