Red One (film)

2024 film by Jake Kasdan

7 min read

Red One is a 2024 American Christmas action comedy film directed by Jake Kasdan and written by Chris Morgan. It stars Dwayne Johnson, Chris Evans, Lucy Liu, and J. K. Simmons, with Kiernan Shipka, Bonnie Hunt, Kristofer Hivju, Nick Kroll, and Wesley Kimmel appearing in supporting roles. The film tells the story of Head of North Pole Security Callum Drift, who teams up with black-hat hacker Jack O'Malley to locate a kidnapped Santa Claus on Christmas Eve.

Principal photography for the film began in October 2022 and concluded in February 2023, with filming locations including Atlanta.

Red One was first released theatrically by Warner Bros. Pictures internationally on November 6, 2024, and in the United States by Amazon MGM Studios on November 15. The film received mostly negative reviews from critics and was a box-office bomb, grossing $186 million against a budget of $200–$250 million.

Plot

Mythological Oversight and Restoration Authority (MORA) is a clandestine, multilateral, military organization that protects a secret peace treaty between humans and mythological creatures. Callum Drift, head of Santa Claus's security detail, plans to retire after one last Christmas run, having become disillusioned with people's increasingly toxic behavior, exemplified by the growth of Santa's Naughty List. On Christmas Eve, an unidentified black ops team breaks into the North Pole complex and kidnaps Santa, who is held by a mysterious woman in a vault that siphons his magic, rendering him unconscious.

MORA director Zoe Harlow's subordinates discover that Jack O'Malley, a freelance black-hat hacker, compromised Santa's location. Zoe apprehends Jack for questioning. Jack, a longtime Santa skeptic, explains that he had no idea what the information meant and merely sent it to an anonymous buyer. Zoe hires Jack to help find Santa and places a tracker on him, reluctantly teaming Callum with him. The mysterious woman and her sons duplicate the Glaskäfig (German for "glass cage"), planning to imprison all the people who have ever been on the Naughty List.

Jack and Callum track down Ted, the broker who bought the information on Santa's location, in Aruba. Ted reveals that the kidnapper is the winter witch Grýla. She sends her snowman henchmen to eliminate them. Although Callum and Jack are victorious, Ted is frozen before he can be questioned.

Callum suspects that Grýla is working with Krampus, Santa's estranged adoptive brother and Grýla's ex-lover, who created the Naughty List. Callum and Jack break into Krampus' lair, but are captured. Callum appeals to Krampus to help him find Santa Claus, who misses him, but Krampus refuses, and reveals that Grýla came to him to recover the Glaskäfig, a magical imprisoning snow globe. Jack steals back Callum's magic gauntlet and returns it to Callum, allowing the pair to escape.

Grýla successfully tests the snow globes by imprisoning Jack and his estranged son Dylan each inside of one. The two prisoners have a heartfelt conversation that by making them "nicer" causes the snow globes to break.

Following the implanted tracker, Zoe and Callum find Jack at the North Pole complex and realize that Grýla and her sons, along with Santa, have been inside the complex the entire time, having caused the search as a diversion. Zoe and Callum also learn that Grýla's team of shapeshifters has taken over the complex. Zoe and Callum find and free the imprisoned Mrs. Claus and other security staff. In Santa's old workshop, Zoe and Callum find Jack, Dylan, and the equipment that Grýla used to mass produce the Glaskäfigs.

As Grýla prepares to leave with an unconscious Santa, using his sleigh to distribute the Glaskäfigs, she is confronted by Callum, Jack, Zoe, and their allies, leading to a fight. Grýla launches the sleigh, but is intercepted by Callum and Jack, with assistance from Krampus, who arrives to help. Santa recovers, defeats Grýla with the help of the flying reindeer, and seals Grýla inside a Glaskäfig. Santa and Krampus acknowledge each other and part ways peacefully, while Grýla is taken into Zoe's custody.

Before he leaves on his Christmas Eve run, Santa invites Jack and Dylan to accompany him. During that ride, Callum watches as Jack regains his sense of wonder and builds a relationship with Dylan. With his faith restored, Callum decides against retiring.

Cast

Dwayne Johnson as Callum Drift, head of North Pole security for Saint Nicholas and commander of the ELF (Enforcement, Logistics, and Fortification)
Chris Evans as Jack "the Wolf" O'Malley, a black-hat hacker and bounty hunter
- Wyatt Hunt as child Jack
Lucy Liu as Zoe Harlow, the director of MORA
J. K. Simmons as Santa Claus, a legendary Christmas figure
Kiernan Shipka as Grýla, a Christmas witch who captures Santa Claus
- Morla Gorrondona as the voice of Grýla's ogre form
Bonnie Hunt as Mrs. Claus, the wife of Santa Claus
Reinaldo Faberlle as the voice of Agent Garcia, an anthropomorphic polar bear and ELF agent
Kristofer Hivju as Krampus, the brother of Santa Claus and the ex-boyfriend of Grýla
Nick Kroll as Ted, a broker who bought the location of Santa Claus from Jack
Wesley Kimmel as Dylan, Jack's son
Mary Elizabeth Ellis as Olivia, Jack's ex-wife
Marc Evan Jackson as Uncle Rick, the uncle of Jack
Jenna Kanell as a guest of Krampus
Gursharn Arya as Drako
Jon Rudnitsky as Beef Stew, a social media influencer at the mall who Callum scolds for cutting in line to see Santa
Regina Ting Chen as ELF Agent Ginerva
James Cheek as ELF Welcoming Agent
Reinaldo Faberlle as ELF Agent Garcia
Philip Fornah as ELF Agent Fred
Kenny Waymack Jr. as ELF Agent Kenny
Gissette Valentin as ELF Agent Barskova
Adam Boyer, Derek Russo, Michael Tourek, and Kia Shine as the Yule Lads, the children of Grýla
Gabriel 'G-Rod' Rodriguez as the Yule Lad who impersonated Mrs. Claus
Matthew Cornwell as:
- Aaron Able, a man on the Naughty List who is Grýla's first target
- Troll
Jeff Chase as a horned Cyclops who works for Krampus
Marti Matulis as The Slap Fight Judge

Production

Development

Hiram Garcia at Seven Bucks Productions conceived the idea for the film, which was developed into a screenplay by Chris Morgan for Jake Kasdan to direct and Dwayne Johnson to star. Chris Evans joined the cast in January 2022. In September 2022, Kiernan Shipka was added to the cast. Lucy Liu, Mary Elizabeth Ellis, J. K. Simmons, Nick Kroll, Kristofer Hivju, Wesley Kimmel, and Bonnie Hunt joined the cast the following month, with Ellis revealing Simmons and her involvement on Instagram. Dwayne Johnson was paid $50 million for his involvement.

Filming

Principal photography began in October 2022 in Atlanta and wrapped in February 2023. Filming ran into issues with Johnson, who was typically seven to eight hours late to film his scenes and missed several days of shooting. These delays reportedly increased the budget by $50 million to a total of $250 million, which Garcia disputed. Johnson later admitted to frequent tardiness, as well as urinating in bottles on set, but Evans and Kasdan defended him.

Release

Red One was originally scheduled to be released exclusively on Prime Video worldwide in time for Christmas 2023. On December 20, 2023, the film switched to a worldwide theatrical release on November 15, 2024, due to the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike. Johnson pushed for Red One to be released in IMAX after watching an IMAX screening of Oppenheimer while Red One's principal photography was still underway. Johnson thought that Red One in the IMAX format would be "game over". Amazon MGM Studios handled the distribution in the United States, while Warner Bros. Pictures handled the film's international release. In the United Kingdom and Ireland, it was released on November 6, 2024. In Latin America, it was released on November 7, 2024. with prerelease advance screenings starting October 31, 2024. Footage of Red One was first shown at CinemaCon in April 2024 to journalists selected by Johnson's publicist, but they were not allowed to write about what they saw. Red One was released on Prime Video on December 12, 2024.