Amazon MGM Studios’ strategy for releasing the Christmas action comedy “Red One” appears to have paid off. After 28 days in theaters, the Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Chris Evans flick dropped on Prime Video on Thursday, December 12. The streamer has now revealed that over its first four days, “Red One” had 50 million viewers worldwide. That makes it, at least according to publicly released metrics, the most-watched Prime Video movie ever.
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Earlier this year, Doug Liman’s “Roadhouse” remake starring Jake Gyllenhaal found 50 million viewers over its first 10 days. How the movie did in the U.S. won’t be known until Nielsen drops its weekly streaming viewing report approximately four weeks from now.
“Red One” was released in theaters on November 15 with no public indication it would drop on Prime Video before the holidays. The studio made sure viewers knew it was a movie first and foremost. This is a different strategy from Prime Video’s competitor, Netflix, which always provides a limited theatrical window and streaming release date for films getting a two-fer.
Directed by Jake Kasdan, “Red One” reportedly cost $200 million (although may claim it cost more) and has grossed $92 million in the U.S. and another $82 million overseas for a current worldwide cume of $175 million. Despite dropping on Prime Video, the movie held on to 3,003 theaters and dropped only 39.3% from the previous weekend. Comparatively, “Gladiator II” dropped 39.1% in the frame.
Depending on how many theaters it loses this weekend, “Red One” still has a shot to earn $100 million in theaters in the U.S. Whether that occurs or not, the theatrical marketing push was likely a wash with the theatrical revenue (traditionally, studios and theaters split receipts 50/50). That’s technically a win for Amazon MGM Studios overall.
With Christmas over a week away, “Red One” should be a mainstay on Prime Video and bring in more revenue. Amazon MGM Studios may just have a new franchise on their hands. Whether they will spend as much on a sequel remains to be seen.
“Red One” is currently still in theaters nationwide and available to stream on Prime Video
