Dwayne Johnson’s latest movie is going to earn him a $20 million payday. Following a massive bidding war between virtually every major studio in Hollywood (including Netflix), Universal and Legendary Pictures have won the rights toRed Notice, a new heist thriller that will see The Rock reteam with hisSkyscraperdirector Rawson Thurber. Thurber is said to be getting an eight-figure payday for his work onRed Notice, which he will write and direct. This movie is on the fast track and is expected to be a major blockbuster with global appeal. Hence, the bidding war.
According to a new report,Red Noticewill be a “two-hander,” meaning that it will be a starring vehicle forDwayne Johnsonand another yet-to-be-named star. Odds are, it’s going to be a big name, given that this is being pitched as a major blockbuster that is on the fast track.Red Noticeis said to be the biggest deal made by a Hollywood studio for a movie this year so far.Red Noticecomes from the mind of Rawson Thurber and he’s said to be getting to work on the script on Monday. Though, plot details are largely being kept under wraps at the moment.
The majority of theproduction teambehind the upcomingSkyscraper, which was unveiled to the world during theSuper Bowl, is in place forRed Notice. The movie will be produced by Beau Flynn, via FlynnPictureCo., along with Dwayne Johnson, Dany Garcia and Hiram Garcia through their Seven Bucks Production banner. Rawson Thurber and Wendy Jacobson are executive producing. It’s said that Johnson was willing toshuffle around his scheduleto ensure that he’ll be available to shootRed Noticein early 2019.
Rawson Thurber and the producers generated a lot of buzz for this movie in a hurry when they started shopping it around. They reportedly had a lot more than just a pitch.Red Noticecame with a full production team, thebiggest star in the worldalready attached, a writer/director and even a start date for production. Not only that, but the movie is on track to be completed so that Universal can release it as an event movie in 2020. That makes for a rather quick turnaround for a movie of this size, but thisisn’t a typical situation.
Whether or not a franchise is being hoped for remains unclear, but the movie certainly carries a franchise price tag. Not only is Dwayne Johnson earning a staggering amount of money, but it’s said thatRed Noticewill cost around $125 million to make. That’s not including marketing costs. Still, this seems like one of very few movies that has near guaranteed hit potential and that’s very hard to come by in Hollywood these days. Johnson also has hisFast and Furiousspin-off with Jason Statham dated for 2019 and a sequel toJumanji: Welcome to the Junglein the works. So his workload isn’t getting any lighter. This news was first reported byDeadline.
