Dwayne Johnson has had a fairly shaky track record with blockbuster films in recent years, with outings such as Black Adam devastating his status as a leading man. Now, according to Johnson’s official YouTube channel, the wrestler-turned-actor is preparing to release the film Red One, which seems almost too absurd to believe. The trailer for Red One features a few comically timed mic-drop moments, which make the entire thing seem more like a Saturday Night Live parody of a Christmas movie than an actual feature film.
Take a look at the trailer to see what we mean.
Red One stars Dwayne Johnson alongside the likes of J.K. Simmons, Lucy Liu, and Chris Evans. While not placed front-and-center in the trailer, the film also touts an ensemble of beloved comedic actors, such as Nick Kroll, Marc Evan Jackson, and It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia‘s Mary Elizabeth Ellis. The film was written by Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw scribe Chris Morgan, and directed by Jumanji: The Next Level filmmaker Jake Kasdan.
This Red One iteration of Santa, as portrayed by J.K. Simmons, also has a penchant for pumping iron, as the trailer begins with him bench-pressing a massive set of weights for over 500 reps.
The movie centers around a completely bonkers narrative that sees Santa Claus kidnapped from his home workshop in the North Pole, despite the fact that he has a beefed-up in-house security system fronted by an overzealous Dwayne Johnson. This Red One iteration of Santa, as portrayed by J.K. Simmons, also has a penchant for pumping iron, as the trailer begins with him bench-pressing a massive set of weights for over 500 reps.
While the trailer doesn’t give away who kidnapped Saint Nick, or their motives for doing so, it makes it clear that most of the run time will be dedicated to Johnson and Chris Evans as they stage an exciting rescue.
Throw in a few uncanny CGI snowmen and even a nightmare-inducing bipedal polar bear, and you’ve got a recipe for the most chaotic movie trailer we’ve seen in years.
Johnson’s Red One character goes by the absurd action-movie name Callum Drift, and serves as head of the E.L.F. (Extremely Large and Formidable) task force. Chris Evans‘ character, by contrast, is a relative outsider to the world of Christmas magic, and helps Callum Drift track down the holly, jolly gift-giver using his skills as a renowned bounty hunter. As the duo learn to work together, their odd-couple dynamic will surely result in a few off-the-wall interactions, some of which are shown in the trailer.
For starters, Johnson’s character has a close, personal relationship with Santa, making the case very near and dear to his heart. The E.L.F. leader is shown to have a deeply affectionate relationship with the reindeer who pull Santa’s sleigh, causing Santa himself to remark that he is the “boyfriend” to the all-female team. Moments after the Red One trailer delivers this incredibly bizarre line, Chris Evans’ Jack O’Malley is seen literally stealing candy from a baby, in one of the most on-the-nose character introductions ever committed to film.
The film was written by Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw scribe Chris Morgan, and directed by Jumanji: The Next Level filmmaker Jake Kasdan.
Throw in a few uncanny CGI snowmen and even a nightmare-inducing bipedal polar bear, and you’ve got a recipe for the most chaotic movie trailer we’ve seen in years. One pivotal moment in the Red One trailer even has Chris Evans incredulously remarking “Are you saying Santa Claus has been kidnapped?” before Dwayne Johnson informs him that he’s a “level 4 naughty lister.”
Red One certainly has the potential to go down as an over-the-top Christmas classic, though it seems clear from the trailer that it’s just a bizarre Dwayne Johnson action-buddy vehicle. For now, only time will tell what the final project delivers. The film is set to premiere in theaters across the country on November 15.