MORA (Mythological Oversight and Restoration Authority) is a clandestine, multilateral military organization that protects a secret peace treaty between mythological creatures and humanity. Callum Drift, head of Santa Claus's security detail, plans to retire after one last Christmas run, having become disillusioned with people's increased 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. MORA director Zoe Harlow's subordinates discover the complex's location was compromised by Jack O'Malley, a freelance black-hat hacker.
Zoe apprehends Jack for questioning. A longtime Santa skeptic, Jack 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. Callum reluctantly teams up with Jack. They track down Ted, the broker who bought the information, in Aruba. Ted reveals the kidnapper is the winter witch Grýla. Grýla becomes aware of their conversation from her name being spoken and sends her snowmen henchmen to eliminate them. Although Callum and Jack are victorious, Ted is frozen before he can be further questioned.
Callum suspects that Grýla is working with Krampus, Santa's estranged adoptive brother, Grýla's ex-lover and the creator of the Naughty List. Callum and Jack break into Krampus' lair but are captured. Callum appeals to Krampus to help his brother who misses him, but Krampus refuses. He 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 him, allowing the pair to escape.
Grýla and her sons keep Santa in a vault that siphons his magic, knocking him unconscious. Grýla duplicates the Glaskäfig, planning to imprison all people that has ever been on the Naughty List. She tests the snow globes on Jack and his estranged son Dylan. Jack and Dylan, inside their respective globes next, 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, are still inside the complex the entire time, having caused the search as a diversion. They also learn that Grýla's team of shapeshifters has taken over the complex. They free the imprisoned Mrs. Claus and other security staff. In Santa's old workshop, they find Jack and Dylan and the equipment that Grýla used to mass-produce the Glaskäfigs.
Grýla prepares to leave with an unconscious Santa using his sleigh to distribute the Glaskäfigs. A fight ensues, and Grýla is stopped by Callum and Jack, with an assist from Krampus, who arrives to help. Santa recovers, defeats Grýla with the help of his reindeer, and seals her inside one of her Glaskäfigs. Santa and Krampus acknowledge each other and part ways peacefully while Grýla is taken into Zoe's custody.
Everybody prepares for the Christmas Eve run. Santa invites Jack and Dylan to accompany him. During the successful run, Callum watches Jack regain his wonder and build a relationship with Dylan. His faith restored, Callum decides against retiring.
Cast
Dwayne Johnson as Callum "Cal" Drift, head of North Pole security for Saint Nicholas
Chris Evans as Jack O'Malley, a hacker and bounty hunter
Principal photography began in October 2022 in Atlanta and wrapped in February 2023.[14][18] Filming ran into issues with Johnson, who was an average of 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.[4] Johnson later admitted to frequent tardiness as well as urinating in bottles on set, but Evans and Kasdan defended him.[19][20]
Release
Red One was originally scheduled to be released exclusively on Prime Video worldwide in time for Christmas 2023.[21] On December 20, 2023, the film switched to a worldwide theatrical release on November 15, 2024, due to the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike.[22][23][24] 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".[25]Amazon MGM Studios handled the distribution in the United States, while Warner Bros. Pictures handled the film's international release.[26] In the United Kingdom and Ireland, it was released on November 6, 2024.[27] In Latin America, it was released on November 7, 2024.[28] with pre-release advance screenings starting October 31, 2024.[29] 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.[4]Red One was released on Prime Video on December 12, 2024.[30]
Reception
Box office
As of January9,2025[update], Red One has grossed $97million in the United States and Canada, and $88.7million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $185.7million.[5][6]
In the United States and Canada, Red One was projected to gross $30–35 million from 4,032 theaters, with some independent sources predicting a debut as low as $25 million or as high as $40 million.[3][31] The film made $10.9 million on its first day, including $3.7 million from Sunday and Thursday night previews. It went on to debut to $32.1 million, topping the box office.[2] Following the film's weak previews performance, Variety concluded that, "With a massive budget of $250 million, plus marketing costs, it'll take a Christmas miracle for Red One to become a profitable hit at the box office."[32][33] In its second box office weekend, the film dropped 59% to $13.3 million, finishing in third behind newcomers Wicked and Gladiator II.[34] In its third weekend the film made $12.9 million (and a total of $18.7 million over the five day Thanksgiving frame), dropping just 2.5% from the previous weekend and finishing in fourth behind Gladiator II, Wicked and Moana 2.[35]
Critical response
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 30% of 179 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 4.5/10.The website's consensus reads: "Wrapped in slick packaging but wholly lacking in holiday magic, Red One is a ho-ho-hum action-adventure."[36]Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 34 out of 100, based on 35 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable" reviews.[37] Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A–" on an A+ to F scale, while those polled by PostTrak gave it a 78% overall positive score, with 57% saying they would definitely recommend it.[2]
Peter Bradshaw, writing for The Guardian, gave the film one star out of five, describing it as "profoundly depressing and blandly sentimental" and concluding "this commercial and formulaic slice of content is a toy destined to be forgotten, not by Boxing Day, but mid-November."[38]
Glenn Garner of Deadline Hollywood said the film "blends genres for some family-friendly holiday fun with a generous dose of self-aware absurdity" and wrote: "Yes, it's cheesy, but this movie is best when it leans heavily into the cheese. If that makes your eyes roll, keep in mind this is a Christmas movie ultimately intended for kids who've made it all the way through the MCU on Disney+ twice and their parents now need a reprieve. There are still some jokes aimed at the cold-hearted adult who will inevitably be dragged along on the family cinema outing."[39]
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