Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s upcoming Christmas film “Red One” for Amazon MGM has reportedly run into major production issues, resulting in a skyrocketing budget of over $250 million – a sum typically reserved for superhero blockbusters.
Originally slated for release during the 2023 holiday season, “Red One,” co-starring Chris Evans and J.K. Simmons, has been delayed to November 2024. While the official reason cited is last year’s labor strikes, insiders reveal a more complicated story.
According to over a dozen sources involved with the project, the “Red One” production was plagued by a multitude of problems, exacerbated by the inexperience of the film’s lead producer Hiram Garcia of Seven Bucks Productions and Amazon MGM executives Julie Rapaport and Glenn Gainor, who oversaw the project.
Sources claim that Johnson showed up as much as eight hours late to the set on some days, forcing the crew to work around him. The actor has also been known to urinate in water bottles on previous films to save time, upsetting crew members.
The production issues, combined with Johnson’s reported lack of professionalism and the producers’ inexperience, are said to have caused costs to spiral out of control, resulting in the massive $250 million-plus budget.
As “Red One” gears up for its holiday 2024 release, the film’s troubled production has cast a spotlight on Johnson’s reputation as a dedicated, box-office draw and raised questions about the oversight of the high-profile project.