The production of this winter’s Red One has allegedly been on the difficult side, according to a report about the Dwayne Johnson-headlined film.
Remember just a few weeks ago when Amazon Studios had to navigate a tricky public relations issue as it prepared to release its remake of Road House? It’s hard to forget it, with the whole brouhaha where the film’s director, Doug Liman, got irate because the studio wouldn’t give the film a theatrical release and claimed that Amazon was “using Road House to sell plumbing fixtures.”
Although we use the term loosely, Amazon ‘won’ that particular encounter, sticking to its guns and in the end, Liman capitulated and didn’t even go through with his promised boycott of the film’s premiere. The film hit big, too.
Still though, Liman’s disdainful insults were loud and widely reported so it wasn’t like the studio emerged without taking any kind of a hit. Effectively managing talent is part of the business and if fresh reports are to be believed, another problem has now hit on another film.
According to The Wrap, the latest project where the studio has talent issues is the Christmas-themed action movie Red One, where Dwayne Johnson’s alleged antics are said to have added up to $50m to the film’s ballooning budget which now reportedly stands at around $250m.
The outlet claims that ‘Johnson showed up as much as eight hours late to set on the movie – forcing the crew to shoot around him on some days.’ The report also states that on other films ‘Johnson has made a habit of peeing in a water bottle to save time, upsetting crew members.’
If Johnson was turning up to set hours late, we’re not sure that clawing back five minutes by peeing into a water bottle is the right way to show the rest of the production that you’re sorry – especially not to the poor person who has to dispose of whatever it was that The Rock has been cooking.
Amazon has duly responded to the report, calling it “both ridiculous and false” but it’s another public relations mess that the studio has to navigate ahead of a film’s release, rather than building hype for the film itself.
The piece over at The Wrap is quite extensive, so if you want more details on the film’s alleged struggles, head over and take a look.
