'Red One' Tops Domestic Box Office, but Falls Short Against High Production Costs

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Despite topping the domestic box office in its first weekend, 'Red One' fails to meet expectations, sparking debates about the success of big-budget streaming films.

November 18, 2024

AceShowbiz - Amazon MGM's "Red One" debuted with $34 million from 4,032 theaters, but its $250 million production budget raises questions about its success. Despite above-average reviews from audiences (A- CinemaScore), critics gave the film mostly negative reviews.

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson's star power failed to significantly boost the opening, which is comparable to his previous films "Rampage" and "Central Intelligence". Amazon MGM maintains that they evaluate return on investment based on long-term value to Prime Video, rather than solely on theatrical grosses.

"Red One" also faces competition from anticipated films like "Wicked", "Gladiator II" and "Moana 2", which could cut into its potential audience. However, "Venom: The Last Dance" continues to perform strongly, taking the No. 2 spot with $7.3 million and a domestic total of $127.6 million. Lionsgate's "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever" and A24's "Heretic" also had solid holds in their second weekends.

Editors' Pick

Overall, the domestic box office is down 12% from last year, but this gap is expected to close significantly with upcoming releases such as "Wicked" and "Gladiator II".

Amazon MGM argues that large-budget streaming tentpoles don't necessarily need to succeed at the box office to be considered successful, highlighting the advantage of buzz generation and marketing for Prime Video.

However, the lack of transparency in streaming viewership data makes it difficult to assess the true financial performance of these films.

Top 10 of North American Box Office (Nov. 15-18, 2024):