It’s a December to remember for Prime Video. Per the streamer, the Dwayne Johnson and Chris Evans Christmas flick “Red One” attracted a record-breaking 50 million worldwide viewers in its opening weekend on Prime Video (measured over four days), becoming Amazon MGM Studios’ most-watched film debut ever on the streaming platform.
It’s a true Christmas miracle for the film, which boasted a Santa-sized $250 million budget and opened to just $32 million in the U.S. last month. Amazon MGM head of theatrical distribution Kevin Wilson hinted at the studio’s justification for spending big without requiring a lot of ticket sales in return, telling Variety in November, “Whether or not people like it, the value of these movies is different for our business model. … If we can put these movies out theatrically and cover our P&A [print and advertising] costs, why wouldn’t we? We’re getting a massive marketing campaign that’s being paid for before the film gets to streaming.”
Despite critics like Variety‘s Owen Gleiberman largely panning the film, with a 33% “rotten” average on Rotten Tomatoes, the film fared better with audiences, notching an A- grade from moviegoer pollster CinemaScore.
“Red One,” which is still playing globally on the big screen on over 3,000 screens in North America and 3,300 screens internationally, also stars Lucy Liu, Kiernan Shipka, Bonnie Hunt, Kristofer Hivju, Nick Kroll, Wesley Kimmel and J.K. Simmons. Jake Kasdan directed the film from a screenplay by Chris Morgan. Producers are Seven Bucks Productions’ Hiram Garcia, Johnson and Dany Garcia, Chris Morgan Productions’ Morgan and The Detective Agency’s Kasdan and Melvin Mar.
The PG-13 holiday action comedy follows Johnson’s Callum Drift, the head of North Pole security, as he reluctantly teams up with Chris Evans’ rascally hacker Jack O’Malley to find a kidnapped Santa Claus in time for Christmas.
“Given the audience response to ‘Red One’ both in theaters and on Prime Video, the film will clearly be a perennial holiday favorite for years to come,” said Amazon MGM Studios head Jennifer Salke on the film’s streaming debut. “Every film is different, and we are so grateful for the partnership with our filmmakers in collectively finding the right strategy to get this film in front of the widest possible audience. With ‘Red One,’ there was no doubt that strategy needed to include a theatrical release and associated marketing campaign, which drove audiences to theaters and generated awareness for the film with viewers who would ultimately tune in on Prime Video. It’s rewarding to see our plan pay off for customers, and we are incredibly thankful to the entire filmmaking team and cast who helped make it happen.”
Amazon does not disclose exactly what counts as a “view,” so it should be noted that streaming viewership numbers self-reported by platforms come with caveats. Some brands report total minutes or hours watched, while others divide that total by each project’s runtime to arrive at an estimated number of views. It’s entirely possible that many of the reported 50 million viewers only watched a brief portion of “Red One.”
Prime Video touted Jake Gyllenhaal’s “Road House” as its most-watched debut title earlier this year, also citing 50 million viewers, although that figure was recorded over two weekends compared to the four-day window for “Red One.”
