Dwayne Johnson Slaps A Krampus In The Face In The Red One Trailer

Now The Rock has a machine gun Christmas movie, ho-ho-ho. 

Is it a stretch to say Dwayne Johnson has been in a bit of a slump of late? His return to wrestling earlier this year didn't go over well with WWE fans; his much-ballyhooed plan to change the hierarchy of the DC Universe with "Black Adam" and "DC League of Super-Pets" failed to pan out (but don't tell Johnson that); his Netflix action-comedy "Red Notice" was apparently watched by every single person on the planet yet nobody seems to remember a damn thing about it beyond the alcoholic product placement; and even his mega-expensive "Jungle Cruise" movie was the victim of a bungled hybrid streaming and theatrical release (although the tepid reviews probably didn't help). 

Hoping to turn things around, The Rock is joining forces with his "Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle" and "The Next Level" director Jake Kasdan for "Red One," a film that was announced in 2021 and described as a "unique concept [that] represents a property that could encompass not only a tentpole film, but could reach beyond entertainment across multiple industries and businesses." (Woo-hoo, nothing says fun like a "unique concept" movie!) More recently, "Red One" was the topic of a bombshell report that alleged the film's budget has soared well above $250 million due to factors including The Rock consistently showing up late to filming and a lack of producing experience on the part of Hiram Garcia, the brother of Johnson's ex-wife and Seven Bucks Productions co-founder Dany Garcia, who's also credited for cracking the movie's story.

Still, plenty of movies have been hell to make and come out the other end looking fantastic. Does that seem like the case here? Watch the "Red One" trailer (which is featured above) and see what you think.

Woof, so, uh, this is apparently what $250 million will get you in today's economy. Johnson stars in "Red One" as Callum Drift, who's tasked with overseeing security for Red One, aka Santa Claus (a bench-pressing, muscled-out, bearded J.K. Simmons, which is to say a regular J.K. Simmons), only for the big man to find himself Santa-napped. The ensuing rescue op pairs Drift with Chris Evans' Jack O'Malley, who's somehow the only one capable of saving Mr. Claus despite being a "Level 4 Naughty Lister." Along the way, the two encounter talking polar bears and killer mutant snowmen, with Drift getting slapped by Krampus ("Game of Thrones" alum Kristofer Hivju) at one point, albeit not the one from Michael Dougherty's "Krampus," which would automatically make this a much better movie.

Setting aside "Fast & Furious" veteran Chris Morgan, who's credited for penning the screenplay based on Hiram Garcia's idea, essentially merging the "Santa Clause" movies with Johnson's "Hobbs & Shaw," the whole thing looks depressingly bad — as in, it literally looks bad and not like something a studio sunk hundreds of millions of dollars into making. With the "Jumanji" films and the likes of "Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story" under his belt, Kasdan's track record speaks for itself, but this "Red One" trailer doesn't exactly inspire confidence. Mercifully, however, we already have a terrific Santa Claus movie starring J.K. Simmons. It's called "Klaus" and you can watch it on Netflix right now.

Lucy Liu, Kiernan Shipka, Bonnie Hunt, Nick Kroll, and Wesley Kimmel costar in "Red One," which will open in theaters on November 15, 2024.