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According to FlixPatrol, which measures the popularity of titles across various streaming platforms, Red One is currently one of the biggest movies on Prime Video. It ranks No. 4 on Prime’s top 10, trailing She Rides Shotgun, Oh. What. Fun. (another new star-studded Christmas vehicle looking to become part of holiday traditions), and Tell Me Softly.
Red One Bombed at the Box Office, but It’s Paying Off for Amazon
As stated above, Red One had a rough time at the box office. While it managed to exceed low expectations, it only brought in $186 million worldwide against a production budget in the range of $200-250 million. Obviously, Amazon would have preferred if Red One became a major box office hit, but streaming was arguably the bigger priority here. Red One debuted on Prime Video roughly a month after it debuted in theaters, so a case can be made that this wasn’t strictly a commercial play for the multiplex; the goal was to give Prime Video’s library a big holiday movie that people could return to year in and year out. Whatever Red One made at the box office was gravy.
From that perspective, Red One can probably go down as a success. A year after its release, Prime Video subscribers have made a point to watch it as they count down the days until Christmas. Considering the largely negative reviews Red One received (30% on Rotten Tomatoes), some might find it surprising that the film has caught on so much with general viewers. However, fans seem to enjoy it much more than critics (the Rotten Tomatoes audience score is 89%). Based on the streaming numbers, the poor box office performance may not have been due to lack of interest; the prospect of a short theatrical window made it easier to wait to watch Red One.
