The movie from Amazon MGM got pushed out to November 2024.

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has been building his reputation as an action-comedy movie star with a lot of muscle and a strong box office attraction for more than 20 years. However, “Red One,” a high-profile Christmas blockbuster for Amazon MGM, has become a huge financial disaster, which has altered perceptions about Johnson’s reputation and work ethic.

 

The theatrical premiere of “Red One,” which was initially scheduled for the Christmas season of 2023, has been pushed back to November 2024, ostensibly because of labor strikes that occurred the previous year.

The truth, however, is far more convoluted.

Production problems, which included producers’ inexperience as well as Johnson’s habitual tardiness and lack of professionalism on set, drove up the cost of the film, which also starred Chris Evans and J.K. Simmons, to a final budget of over $250 million, an amount more appropriate for a superhero tentpole.

The “Red One” production, according to over a dozen insiders directly involved in the project, was a perfect storm of issues made worse by the inexperience of Hiram Garcia, the film’s lead producer from Seven Bucks Productions, and Julie Rapaport and Glenn Gainor, feature and production executives at Amazon MGM, who are in charge of the project.

TheWrap was informed by insiders that Johnson arrived at the filming location up to eight hours late, causing the production to shoot some days around him. Johnson has a propensity of urinating in a water bottle to save time on past movies, which has irritated the crew.

“When he needs to urinate on set, away from his trailer, he doesn’t use the public restroom,” an insider with close knowledge of the actor stated. “His team or a PA has to dispose of it after he urinates in a Voss water bottle.”

With “Red One,” which tells the story of an evil guy who kidnaps Santa Claus from the North Pole and an E.L.F. (Extremely Large and Formidable) agent who teams up with a bounty hunter to find Santa and rescue Christmas, Amazon was hoping to tease a possible series. Chris Morgan, a seasoned writer for “Fast & Furious,” wrote the script frequently with Johnson, and Jake Kasdan, director of the “Jumanji” films, directed it.

This year, at CinemaCon for the first time, Amazon MGM made an unprecedented move by showcasing movie footage to a select group of journalists chosen by Johnson’s publicist, Meredith O’Sullivan. on ten minutes of video were presented to the journalists, but they were not permitted to write on what they witnessed.

Studios frequently carefully release a few scenes at a time, but the total media blackout surrounding the “Red One” footage implies that Amazon is aware that the film’s delayed release will be difficult to get through.

An Amazon MGM representative refuted in a statement to TheWrap any set problems with “Red One” or delays brought on by Johnson’s tardiness or Seven Bucks’ inexperience, which resulted in an explosion of the movie budget.

A representative for the movie remarked, “Dwayne Johnson and Seven Bucks have been incredible partners on ‘Red One’—a film that audiences of all ages are going to love this holiday season.” “We’ve had a great testing campaign, as evidenced by CinemaCon’s response, and Dwayne’s unwavering effort and support were essential to our success. It is absurd and untrue for any reporting to suggest that he arrived seven or eight hours beyond the scheduled time to set up.

The movie represents the most recent behind-the-scenes controversy to afflict the Amazon MGM film division. It follows the widely reported arguments between producer Joel Silver and filmmaker Doug Liman throughout the “Road House” remake’s development, which grew more contentious due to claims of artificial intelligence (AI) use and concerns about the movie’s underlying copyrights.

The “Red One” friction heightens concerns about the inexperienced studio’s capacity to successfully establish itself as a major force in the theater industry, especially as Amazon Studios CEO Jennifer Salke works to place Amazon MGM’s theatrical production on solid foundation.

“The Rock” is tardy, according to various insiders who talked with TheWrap. Johnson, who bills himself as “the hardest worker in the room,” has a reputation in the business for being late and acting impolitely on set.

According to a “Red One” insider, Dwayne was consistently late for everything.

There are countless, well-documented instances of Johnson’s tardiness, ranging from arriving late to fan events to abandoning entire sets while he was away for three-hour workouts.

He arrived three hours late for his main event encounter at WrestleMania 40 earlier this month, according to two insiders who spoke with TheWrap. Johnson arrived two hours late for WWE World, a fan event in Philadelphia that preceded WrestleMania 40, eliciting jeers from the audience and criticism from the Philadelphia media.

A WWE insider claims that Johnson’s tardiness was caused by traffic in Philadelphia on his route to the WWE World arena in Center City, in addition to other WWE obligations.

“The reason you’re booing is because The Rock was running a little late,” Johnson questioned the assembly. “[The Rock] was watching Jalen Hurts, the quarterback for the Eagles, lose in the playoffs once more on YouTube.”

Johnson continued, playing up to his heel persona, saying, “You boo because it’s the truth.” Now that The Rock has appeared, greatness is in front of you. You just remain motionless, keep your mouth shut, and relish the journey that The Rock is leading you on.

“Dwayne was not only on time for WrestleMania, he was hours early to help with rehearsal — and a pleasure to work with throughout the entire run,” said Chris Legentil, executive vice president for talent relations and head of communications at WWE, in an interview with TheWrap.

Johnson’s tardiness was particularly detrimental on the “Red One” set.

Johnson skipped multiple full days of production and was late an average of seven to eight hours a day, according to three sources who insisted on remaining anonymous for fear of retaliation and ballooned expenditures by at least $50 million.

“It was an utterly disastrous event,” one insider stated. The insiders said that the production team was compelled to shoot around Johnson on days when he didn’t show up at all.

One insider put it bluntly: “Dwayne really doesn’t give a f–k.”

Two individuals close to the production and one close to Seven Bucks stated, in response to questioning from TheWrap, that Johnson was typically no more than an hour late to the “Red One” set.

A person with knowledge of Amazon MGM’s finances claimed that the budget never deviated from the $250 million mark, at which Amazon approved the film. The person stated, “It is entirely normal for there to be budget fluctuations within 15% of the target, which is precisely what we experienced.”

Due to Johnson’s obligations to the “Young Rock” series, the XFL’s relaunch, and the lengthy “Black Adam” press tour, which he anticipated would establish him as a significant figure in the DC Comics/Warner Bros. universe, production start dates for “Red One” were twice delayed. (It didn’t.) In November 2022, production on “Red One” restarted following a week of filming in August.

Johnson’s habit of being late has been problematic for several years. A producer who visited the HBO set of “Ballers” told TheWrap, “They rent a location they can shoot as much as they can of other actors while they wait for him to decide if he’s coming to set.” This was confirmed by a former production assistant for the program, who claimed that “he was regularly three to four hours late to set.” Making more than a hundred crew people wait needlessly. A third insider claims that Johnson arrived at the “Ballers” set six hours late in March 2017.

According to two insiders, Johnson was late to the set of 2018’s “Rampage” by four to five hours a day on average. One costar kept track of his tardiness. One of the insiders said, “Dwayne’s call times are never, ever published on the call sheet.” “It’s because one of the actors in ‘Rampage’ was recording the daily lateness of DJ to set.” (A Johnson representative did not reply to a message sent late on Monday on “Rampage” and “Ballers.”)

Johnson’s chronic tardiness appears to be caused by his inability to work a full shooting day, even after accounting for his three-hour daily training schedule. A studio insider continued, “It’s his total refusal to work more than a four- or five-hour day.” An additional source hinted, “It’s a control thing.”

Due to Johnson’s actions, there have been run-ins with co-stars, most notably Vin Diesel. When they were working together on the “Fast & Furious” franchise, an insider informed People, “Vin has been having problems with The Rock because The Rock keeps showing up late for production.” “He sometimes doesn’t show up at all, which is causing the production to be delayed.”

Insiders claim that after waiting for Johnson for five hours during the fall of 2020 filming of Netflix’s comedy series “Red Notice,” Ryan Reynolds became so enraged that they had a “huge fight.” Then Johnson stormed off the set. The two celebrities had not communicated for years before they recently made amends. Netflix ordered a sequel to “Red Notice” in 2022, but not much has happened with the project since then.

A Netflix representative told TheWrap, “Dwayne is the epitome of professionalism, and we’re thrilled to have worked with him on ‘Red Notice,’ our #1 film.”

TheWrap reached out to Reynolds for comment, but they never got back to us.

Additionally, insiders charged Johnson with breaching stringent quarantine regulations by taking a private aircraft home from the set of “Red Notice,” where the actors and crew were placed under lockdown. An insider claimed, “He was breaking the extremely strict rules of the bubble and flying home on a regular basis.” Johnson himself posted about working a 14-hour day, only to delete it — which the IATSE Stories Instagram account resurfaced — after crew members called out his hypocrisy, with one writing, “He got to host family and friends for a BBQ, and wound up getting COVID anyway. The most conceited thing I have ever witnessed an actor perform

Johnson did not violate the quarantine regulations, according to a person close to production. “He didn’t do anything that went against COVID guidelines,” the person claimed.

When it comes to health insurance, crew members on Johnson productions typically meet their guild minimums. “I qualified for health insurance because of a 14-plus-hour day on location, where he did not come out of his trailer to come to set until after 3 p.m. on a 7 a.m. call,” stated a crew member on “Ballers” who talked with TheWrap.

Personal pee bottles

Beyond his disregard for the shooting schedule, Johnson upset crew members with his odd personal demands. 

The Voss urine bottle first made its appearance in a 2017 Instagram story and was later expanded upon in a magazine story, taking the shape of Johnson’s usual anecdotes — macho posturing mixed with his don’t-I-work-so-hard folksiness. “I usually stay pretty hydrated. I need to go to the bathroom a lot. Not a lot, but probably a couple of times during every workout I have to go to the bathroom. So I break out the bottle,” Johnson told Esquire, making the habit a bizarre badge of honor.

A crew member on the IATSE Stories post called out Johnson in 2021 for his Voss pee bottle: “Nevermind what you expect the PA’s to clean up after you (what is it you put in your empty water bottles?!?!)”

TheWrap did not speak to any insiders who said this occurred on “Red One,” and two people close to the production denied to TheWrap that Johnson had ever asked a production assistant or other member of his team to dispose of a bottle of his urine on set. “He would never ask another person to dispose of something like that,” one of these individuals said.

Insiders also accused Johnson of using some of the “Red Notice” movie budget for his personal production company. According to two insiders, the team from Johnson’s Seven Bucks Productions tacked on an entire XFL promotional shoot that added two days after the “Red Notice” marketing shoot.

An insider added that the marketing shoot for “Red Notice” was “probably footing the bill for him to shoot promo material for the XFL and Teremana,” Johnson’s liquor brand.

A second insider confirmed the report and added: “This would happen all the time and he would tack on these shoots and have the production company that was hired by the studio stay late, shoot it and deliver footage.”

A person close to Seven Bucks denied that any “Red One” funds were diverted to Johnson’s personal production company. “If we had lights already set up for the production we would use those,” the person said. “But we never used movie budgets for those. We would bring in crew to do it.”

“Turtle” played by Hiram Garcia
Initially serving as Johnson’s personal assistant on the set of his first major star vehicle, 2002’s “The Scorpion King,” which was a spin-off based on Johnson’s brief appearance in “The Mummy Returns,” Hiram Garcia is the brother of Johnson’s ex-wife and business partner Dany Garcia. Insiders claim that when the production concluded, Garcia went back to his native Miami and started working as an assistant on commercial sets.

A few years later, Garcia came back to work as Johnson’s full-time assistant, preparing his meals and seeing to it that he had water on set. 

 An informant from Universal claims that Garcia was promoted to “creative assistant” on the set of “Fast Five” (2011), with the sole responsibility being to work under Johnson.

According to Deadline, Garcia was elevated to the position of president of production at Seven Bucks in 2017. 

Still, a number of people who have direct experience with Garcia claim that he is not qualified to oversee physical production.

Regarding Hiram’s quick ascent, the Universal insider remarked, “Hiram went from making Dwayne’s protein shakes to running his company.”

A senior agency insider stated, “Hiram Garcia is what you get if Vince [from “Entourage”) tried to give Turtle a real job.” 

 The senior agency insider continued, “Hiram still has no idea how to produce,” despite the fact that he has spent years working side by side and frequently shadowing seasoned producers on big studio movies. He has never known anything other than how to work for Dwayne. He has never been able to handle situations where his duties went beyond being a DJ.

Garcia has 14 years of experience producing movies and is PGA-accredited, according to a source close to Seven Bucks who spoke to TheWrap. When asked for a list of 2019 films that didn’t feature Johnson, the respondent mentioned “Shazam!” 

 “Hiram Garcia, who conceived the original idea for this film, is an incredibly talented, diligent, and responsive producer who brought a wealth of experience to our production,” an Amazon MGM Studios official stated.

According to an insider, Garcia “rarely ever knows the schedule on his own projects,” depending solely on his assistant or other producers to be aware of when things are supposed to be shot. “He ought to have picked up on how to keep track of a schedule and budget, but I haven’t seen him take any interest in doing that,” a second insider said.

Everything reached a boiling point in 2022 when Johnson and Dany Garcia met with CEO David Zaslav of Warner Bros. Discovery to discuss bringing Superman back into “Black Adam,” as well as putting Seven Bucks in charge of DC and taking over for then-chief Walter Hamada, according to four insiders who were present at the meeting.

According to someone close to Seven Bucks, the purpose of the meeting was to introduce Zaslav, who had recently taken over the studio, and discuss “Black Adam.” This source refuted the claim that the purpose of the meeting was to introduce Hiram Garcia as Hamada’s replacement.