Red One Rotten Tomatoes Score Revealed (And It’s Close to a Lump of Coal)

The Rotten Tomatoes score for Red One has been revealed, and it doesn’t paint a pretty picture for the action-comedy. With 35 reviews submitted as of this writing, the movie has a score of 34% on the aggregator. The average rating is a 4.20/10.

While there isn’t an official Rotten Tomatoes critics consensus available yet, a look over the published reviews indicates Red One misses the mark on several fronts, as everything from its lack of heart to its underwhelming story and over-produced filmmaking approach were cited as negatives. Even some of the positive reviews aren’t exactly glowing, saying that Red One is just fine but nothing special. A couple of critics spoke highly of the movie, particularly enjoying its exploration of the Christmas holiday. However, those voices are in the minority.

Directed by Jake Kasdan, Red One stars Dwayne Johnson as Callum Drift, the head of North Pole security who embarks on a mission to rescue a kidnapped Santa Claus (J.K. Simmons) and save Christmas. Callum teams up with mercenary Jack O’Malley (Chris Evans), and the two have to put aside their differences so they can work together. It marks the third collaboration between Johnson and Kasdan, who previously worked together on a pair of Jumanji movies: 2017’s Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle and 2019’s Jumanji: The Next Level.

[Related: Chris Evans Breaks Silence on Finally Doing a Christmas Movie]

Even before the reviews came out, Red One wasn’t generating much positive buzz. In particular, reports detailed Johnson’s unprofessional behavior during production, including being repeatedly late for filming. This allegedly contributed to the film’s budget skyrocketing to over $250 million.

The Red One reviews are a low point for the Johnson-Kasdan partnership. Their Jumanji movies were both well-received and performed strongly at the box office, leading to Sony dating another Jumanji installment for December 2026. Johnson’s track record with the director may have given people reason to believe Red One could be an entertaining addition to the Christmas movie rotation, but it looks like it was a misfire instead. There’s always a chance the Rotten Tomatoes score improves as more reviews come in leading up to Red One‘s wide theatrical release, but in most cases, the first wave serves as a good indicator of where the consensus will land.

It will be interesting to see how the word-of-mouth impacts Red One‘s box office prospects. The film isn’t facing much competition at the multiplex, which works in its favor. Holdover Venom: The Last Dance has won the previous three weekends, and there aren’t any other high-profile releases this weekend, so Red One could take advantage of a quiet marketplace. However, there are some notable titles on the horizon as the holiday season approaches, with Gladiator II, Wicked, and Moana 2 all poised to draw crowds for the rest of the month. There’s also the matter of Johnson’s declining commercial appeal; Black Adam grossed only $393.4 million worldwide and Jungle Cruise posted $220.8 million (albeit when theaters were starting to recover from the pandemic). If Red One was a critical darling, perhaps it could have reversed those fortunes, but it’s unlikely that happens.