Dwayne Johnson, the consummate hype man, has moved on from promoting “Black Adam” (the #1 movie for three weeks in America) to giving us a behind-the-scenes look at his forthcoming Christmas action movie “Red One.”
The film, for Amazon Prime Video, is currently in production, and after he showed off his co-star, sexiest man alive Chris Evans, he’s giving a look at the movie’s Santa Claus – played by none other than Oscar winner J.K. Simmons. (See below.)
“Introducing the one and only, Santa Claus – played by the one and only Academy Award winner, JK Simmons – who can also pass as my twin,” Johnson wrote on the Instagram post. “This is a massive globe trotting & fun movie that brings Christmas home to you and your families in a way that you’ve never seen before.” Elsewhere in the post he refers to the movie as “our new Christmas franchise.” Is this man capable of making anything besides a franchise?
“Red One” is written and directed by two of Johnson’s close collaborators – writer Chris Morgan from the “Fast and Furious” franchise and directed Jake Kasdan, who directed Johnson in two “Jumanji” movies. Along with Evans and Simmons, Johnson is joined in the film by Kiernan Shipka, Lucy Liu, Nick Kroll, Kristofer Hivju and Bonnie Hunt (as Mrs. Claus).
Plot details are being kept under wraps but Johnson has repeatedly described it as a cutting-edge holiday-set action adventure. Sign us up.
While the movie doesn’t have an official release date, you can bet your Christmas lights it’ll be out during the holiday season next year.
