Action superstar Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has revealed another look at his upcoming festive flick, Red One, this time revealing details of both his role in the movie and the possible identity of the villain. Taking to social media once again, Johnson shares another image from behind-the-scenes of the Amazon Studios action movie, revealing that his character will be the Commander of the E.L.F.
“3am. Cool shot from our night shoots as the adrenaline kicks in on set of our new Christmas movie titled, RED ONE,” Johnson says in a caption alongside an image of his character running towards danger. While we have seen Johnson running towards danger plenty of times before, things get interesting in Johnson’s next sentence, in which he reveals details of his role and namedrops the Krampus. “Sometimes you run towards the fire and sometimes you run….into Krampus. Signing off. Commander of the E.L.F. shout out to my friend and one of the best camera operators Hollywood has ever seen, Lukasz Bielan.”
The Rock leading the Christmas charge as the Commander of the E.L.F. certainly makes sense, and explains why he has been sporting a tactical-type costume in all the images so far. Though it must be said that there is nothing typically elf-like about Johnson’s overall look, suggesting that there may be more to his backstory. Perhaps he was once just a human? Or maybe all the elves in Red One are 6’4’’ 260lbs behemoths?
Interestingly, Johnson mentions the Krampus in the post. Details of the plot of Red One are currently being kept under wraps, but could it be that the Krampus, a demon-like figure from folklore who has terrified audiences before on the big screen in the 2015 Christmas horror comedy Krampus, will be the bad guy in Red One? Only time will tell, but so far it sounds like Red One is shaping up nicely to be the perfect Christmas gift when it lands on Prime Video next year.
Red One Finds J.K. Simmons as a Superpowered Santa Claus
This is far from the first time that Dwayne Johnson has pulled back the curtain on Red One, with his latest reveal showing Spider-Man: No Way Home star J.K. Simmons as a shredded, super-strong Santa Claus. A role that is sure to be perfect for the beloved actor, and will no doubt delight audiences.
Directed by Jake Kasdan, with a script written by Chris Morgan, and from an original story by Hiram Garcia, Red One stars Dwayne Johnson (Black Adam), Chris Evans (Avengers: Endgame), Kiernan Shipka (Chilling Adventures of Sabrina), Lucy Liu (Kill Bill), Mary Elizabeth Ellis (It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia), Nick Kroll (Don't Worry Darling), Kristofer Hivju (Game of Thrones), and Wesley Kimmel (The Book of Boba Fett), with J.K. Simmons (Whiplash) starring as Santa Claus and Bonnie Hunt (Jumanji, Toy Story 4) starring as Mrs. Claus.
Red One is scheduled to be released exclusively on Amazon Prime Video just in time for the 2023 holiday season. The project is being eyed as a new holiday action franchise for the streaming platform.