Red One, the holiday movie led by Dwayne Johnson, has garnered 50 million viewers in just four days of landing on Prime Video.
Red One may be the latest chip at the big screen reputation of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson in terms of quality, but the new holiday movie has been a massive hit. Hitting 50 million viewers in its first four days, Red One is now the most-watched Amazon MGM production to ever stream on Prime Video.
Red One has a bit of a goofy release background, first initially being planned to go straight to Amazon Prime Video. A delay due to last year’s SAG-AFTRA strike gave the production an opportunity to adjust, which they took full advantage of. As such, Red One received a wide release last month and ended up debuting at #1 at the box office off of more than 4,000 screens. It would nab a little under $100 million domestically and have a total worldwide haul of $175 million. With the 50 million views coming after its Prime Video, we’re looking at a fairly surprising hit here.
On the reception and release, Jennifer Salke, head of Amazon MGM Studios, said, “Given the audience response to Red One both in theaters and on Prime Video, the film will clearly be a perennial holiday favorite for years to come. Every film is different, and we are so grateful for the partnership with our filmmakers in collectively finding the right strategy to get this film in front of the widest possible audience. With Red One, there was no doubt that strategy needed to include a theatrical release and associated marketing campaign, which drove audiences to theaters and generated awareness for the film with viewers who would ultimately tune in on Prime Video. It’s rewarding to see our plan pay off for customers, and we are incredibly thankful to the entire filmmaking team and cast who helped make it happen.”
While I don’t necessarily see this one remaining a holiday staple, those numbers don’t lie and people still do throw their support behind Dwayne Johnson. Backed by Chris Evans, Lucy Liu, J.K. Simmons, and Bonnie Hunt, the demographics are pretty much covered here to ensure that the bulk of the family (it is rated PG-13 after all) has something for them. Personally, I preferred Simmons as Santa in Klaus…As for the plot of Red One: “After Santa Claus – Code Name: RED ONE – is kidnapped, the North Pole’s Head of Security must team up with the world’s most infamous bounty hunter in a globe-trotting, action-packed mission to save Christmas.”
What do you think accounts for the success of Red One? Will you be adding it to your annual holiday viewing?