Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson is reteaming with his Jumanji director, Jake Kasdan, for a holiday-themed adventure movie for Amazon Studios, tentatively titled Red One. The film will be the third project Johnson and Kasdan have worked on together, following 2017's Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle and its sequel, Jumanji: The Next Level, in 2019. Kasdan is also known for directing the R-rated comedies, Bad Teacher and Sex Tape, both of which starred Cameron Diaz and Jason Segal.
The two latest Jumanji films served as a successful revival of the property made famous by the 1995 film starring Robin Williams. The two new films received generally favorable reviews, with both earning a Rotten Tomatoes critic approval of over 70%. Together, they grossed well over a billion dollars at the box office, with Welcome to the Jungle pulling in $962 million worldwide and The Next Level earning just over $800 million.
As reported by THR, Kasdan has signed on to direct the Johnson-led holiday film for Amazon Studios. Amazon is billing Red One as a "globe-trotting, four-quadrant action-adventure comedy, imagining a whole new universe to explore within the holiday genre." The script is being penned by Fast and Furious screenwriter, Chris Morgan, and it is based on an original story from producer Hiram Garcia. It is expected to begin shooting next year, with the goal of a release in time for the holiday season in 2023.
The film was picked up by Amazon in June of this year following a bidding war over the project. Amazon Studios Chief, Jennifer Salke, has expressed excitement over collaborating with Johnson on his latest holiday adventure. She described Seven Bucks Production (Johnson's production company with Hiram and Dany Garcia) as a leader in the industry, before going further to say that Red One is just the first step in their collaborative venture. In addition to directing the film, Kasdan will also serve as a producer alongside Melvin Mar and Sky Salem Robinson from Kasdan's production company, The Detective Agency.
Amazon is hoping for Red One to be a huge holiday hit, and bringing Kasdan on board will likely increase the chances of this film connecting with audiences. Kasdan and Johnson have already proven they work well together with the Jumanji series, and both of those films had excellent box-office runs during the winter season. Considering this track record and the Christmas-centric story of Red One (with The Rock potentially playing Santa Claus), Amazon could have the go-to holiday film of 2023 on its hands. It wouldn't be all that surprising if Johnson's frequent co-star, Kevin Hart, joined this film as well, as the idea of Hart being the head elf to Johnson's Santa would be too good to pass up.
Source: THR