We only know three things about Amazon’s Red One, a Christmas movie the company touts will be “a globe-trotting, four-quadrant action-adventure comedy, imagining a whole new universe to explore within the holiday genre.” We know the star and the writer — and now that we also know the director, we’re really, really excited.
Red One will be a double reunion for Dwayne Johnson, who is supposedly going to play the biggest, beefiest incarnation of Santa Claus that has ever been put on screen. The script is being written by Chris Morgan, who penned Furious 7, Fate of the Furious, and the spin-off Hobbs & Shaw. Now, I want you to just think for a second about a Christmas movie with the energy and action of a Fast & Furious movie, but instead of Vin Diesel, it’s Dwayne Johnson in a Santa suit and a fake white beard. Pretty good, right?
Well, according to the Hollywood Reporter, the newest addition is Jake Kasdan, who directed the Rock in the charming Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle and Jumanji: The Next Level movies (he also directed one of my favourite comedies ever, Walk Hard), who’s come aboard as the director. So take that Fast Santa & Furious Rudolph movie, and give it the warmth and humour of Jumanji. It’s not like peanut butter and chocolate, it’s like peanut butter and chocolate and a spoon, so you don’t make a big mess everywhere.
Again, there are no other details on the movie other than Amazon thinks it’s going to be huge — so huge that the company announced “this unique concept represents a property that could encompass not only a tentpole film, but could reach beyond entertainment across multiple industries and businesses.” If I may be so bold, I’d like to offer the hypothesis that Santa is Red One, because that’s the code name his eight secret service handlers — who all have reindeer antlers, of course — have given him. The movie’s planned to debut in the holiday season of 2023, so you’ll have plenty of time to brainstorm your own ideas for Red One until then.
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