Los Angeles – This past weekend, moviegoers were in for a surprise as the highly anticipated action comedy “Red One” hit theaters. Starring Dwayne Johnson and Chris Evans, the film sold $34.1 million in tickets in its first weekend, easily topping the box office charts.
For traditional studios, a $34.1 million debut against a production budget of over $200 million would be considered a flop. However, “Red One” is a release by Amazon MGM Studios, which has the luxury of playing the long game and not solely relying on global box office numbers. With the film also set to be released on Prime Video, it is clear that Amazon sees the value in this film for years to come.
Originally intended to go straight-to-streaming, “Red One” was greenlit prior to Amazon’s acquisition of MGM. This release strategy not only benefits the studio, but also struggling theaters looking for consistent new content. Kevin Wilson, head of distribution for Amazon MGM Studios, explains, “Amazon has over 250 million worldwide subscribers to their platform. It’s similar to the way Netflix looks at their content – there’s a massive value in terms of the number of eyeballs that the film will reach.”
As the first major studio holiday release since 2018, “Red One” opened on 4,032 screens, including IMAX and other large formats, on an otherwise quiet weekend for major releases. Wilson expresses his satisfaction with the results, stating, “When you look at the theatrical marketplace, which can be unforgiving, especially for original films, this is a good result for us.”
In fact, since 2020, only seven films that weren’t sequels or based on existing intellectual property have opened with over $30 million, making “Red One” a standout success. Warner Bros. is handling the overseas release, where it has already made an estimated $50 million in just two weekends.
While “Red One” may not be a domestic blockbuster, it is certainly making waves internationally. Even “Joker: Folie à Deux” made slightly more in its first weekend. The film, directed by Jake Kasdan and produced by Johnson’s Seven Bucks, has received mixed reviews from critics, with a 33% score on Rotten Tomatoes. However, audiences have given it an A- CinemaScore, suggesting that it may become a perennial holiday favorite.
Wilson also notes that “Red One” is performing well in the middle of the country and may have a strong holdover during Thanksgiving as a different option to the upcoming blockbuster releases. As for the current box office, Sony’s “Venom: The Last Dance” came in second with $7.4 million, while Lionsgate’s “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever” took third with $5.4 million. A24’s Hugh Grant horror “Heretic” came in fourth with $5.2 million, and Universal and DreamWorks Animation’s “The Wild Robot” rounded out the top five with an additional $4.3 million.
This weekend may have been a bit of a stopover before the Thanksgiving tentpoles arrive, but next week, “Wicked” and “Gladiator II” will face off in theaters with “Moana 2”, which also stars Johnson. “Gladiator II” has already had a head start internationally, grossing a record-breaking $87 million in 63 markets. It will open in the U.S. and Canada on November 22nd.
According to Paul Dergarabedian, the senior media analyst for Comscore, “Red One” is helping to set a momentum leading into the Thanksgiving corridor. He predicts that the upcoming releases will bring some much-needed excitement to the post-Labor Day moviegoing market and could potentially be one of the biggest revenue-generating Thanksgiving periods in box office history.
Final domestic figures will be released on Monday, but estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore, are as follows:
1. “Red One,” $34.1 million
2. “Venom: The Last Dance,” $7.4 million
3. “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever,” $5.4 million
4. “Heretic,” $5.2 million
5. “The Wild Robot,” $4.3 million
6. “Smile 2,” $3 million
7. “Conclave,”
