Despite receiving a reasonably decent audience rating, the latest film featuring Dwayne Johnson, titled Red One, has unfortunately turned out to be another box office disappointment for the popular action star, often referred to as The Rock. This outcome raises eyebrows and questions about his current star power and the film’s reception among viewers and critics alike.

The pressing question on everyone’s mind this weekend revolves around Dwayne Johnson’s current status as a leading star in Hollywood. His new family-oriented film, Red One, has debuted with an underwhelming domestic box office gross of just $34 million. While this figure isn’t entirely disastrous, it stings given the film’s exorbitant production budget, which is estimated to exceed $200 million. This disparity has led many to label the film as a potential flop, a perception that could be influenced by the film’s financial performance, despite its positive audience response.

To put this into perspective, consider that Black Adam, a film notorious for its poor reception, managed to open with approximately double the earnings of Red One. Unless Red One receives exceptionally favorable word-of-mouth, it may struggle to reach a total of $100 million at the domestic box office, which is a significant benchmark for success in the industry.

However, the narrative surrounding Red One might not be as grim as it appears at first glance. It’s important to note that this film was initially conceived as a streaming release for Prime Video. Therefore, the theatrical performance can be interpreted as a strategic move to generate anticipation ahead of its eventual streaming debut. Given the film’s holiday theme, it’s likely to make its way to Prime Video within a matter of weeks, which could impact its long-term box office performance. Nevertheless, with a slightly better-than-expected opening and an A-minus CinemaScore, there are still silver linings for this production.

In second place, Venom: The Last Dance continues to draw audiences, grossing $7.35 million in its third weekend, bringing its total earnings to $127 million. Although this figure may not seem particularly impressive for a superhero film, it is experiencing a 54% decline from the previous week. The real standout for Venom 3 lies in its international performance, where it is approaching an impressive $500 million in global box office revenue.

Lionsgate’s festive offering, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, is emerging as a potential hit, having earned $5.4 million this weekend and edging towards a total of just under $20 million. This film is on track to surpass Lionsgate’s highest-grossing film of the year to date, The Strangers: Chapter One, which grossed a mere $35 million domestically. This statistic underscores the challenging year Lionsgate has faced in terms of box office performance.

In the realm of horror, A24’s Heretic experienced a modest 52% drop, which is quite favorable for a horror film, grossing $5.3 million in its second weekend, accumulating a total of $20.4 million thus far. This performance is commendable, especially considering the film’s production budget was under $10 million. The Wild Robot secured the fifth spot with a $4.3 million earning, bringing its total to $137 million, while Smile 2 began to wind down its run, finishing in sixth place with $2.9 million. Although its total of $65 million falls short of the first film’s over $100 million earnings, it still represents a strong performance for an R-rated horror movie.

Among the more surprising success stories is Focus Features’ Conclave, which only dipped 28% this weekend, generating $2.85 million and reaching a total gross of $26 million. It’s refreshing to see a drama aimed at adult audiences maintaining its momentum in a market often dominated by blockbusters. Similarly, Sean Baker’s Anora, which is further down the rankings in 10th place, earned $1.8 million, accumulating a total gross of $10.5 million for Neon, showcasing the enduring appeal of independent films.

In a surprising twist, the Filipino romantic comedy sequel Hello, Love, Again made a significant impact, debuting with $2.3 million across just 250 screens. It boasted the highest per-screen average of the week, raking in an impressive $9.3K per screen. Additionally, Searchlight’s Sundance breakout film, A Real Pain, had a successful wide release, also earning $2.3 million and landing in ninth place. We have thoroughly enjoyed this indie gem (check out our review), and we believe it deserves a wider audience!

Looking ahead, the upcoming weekend is poised to provide a significant boost to the box office as Hollywood anticipates the arrival of the Glicked phenomenon (a blend of Gladiator and Wicked), hoping it becomes the next cultural sensation akin to Barbenheimer. As always, only time will reveal the true impact of this cinematic event!