Red One: Dwayne Johnson’s record-breaking salary revealed

Dwayne Johnson’s Red One is one of the most anticipated action movies of the year. 2023 has brought a lot of action movies so far, but a few that people are looking forward to are yet to arrive, and Red One is among them. The film’s plot is under wraps, but one thing that has been revealed is Dwayne Johnson’s whopping payday.

Netflix paid Dwayne Johnson a $20 million salary to star in Red Notice. This payday became a base amount to cast him in any film in recent times. However, his salary has taken a big hike in Prime Video’s upcoming movie with him and Chris Evans in the lead.

---

Dwayne Johnson makes $50 million from Red One

The Rock in Red One (Image via Amazon Studios)

As per the Puck journalist Matthew Belloni’s latest newsletter, Prime Video paid Dwayne Johnson a record-breaking $50 million for the upcoming holiday-themed action-comedy Red One. This is the most an actor has ever made as a base salary for a film.

The former WWE star usually produces most of his films. So along with the usual $20 million payday, he gets backend deals from most movies when they turn out to be profitable. However, since there are no backend deals based on profits from the box office in streaming movies, the Rock was paid $50 million upfront.

Robert Downey Jr. in Avengers: Age of Ultron (Image via Marvel)

The following price breakdowns show the highest paydays secured by actors before Johnson:

1) Robert Downey Jr. - Captain America: Civil War & Avengers: Age of Ultron: $40 million (each)

2) Will Smith - King Richard: $40 million

3) Johnny Depp - Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides: $35 million

4) Will Smith - Emancipation: $35 million

5) Keanu Reeves - The Matrix Reloaded / The Matrix Revolutions: $30 million

6) Mel Gibson - Lethal Weapon 4: $30 million

7) Leonardo DiCaprio - Don’t Look Up: $30 million

8) Leonardo DiCaprio - Killers of the Flower Moon: $30 million

9) Arnold Schwarzenegger - Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines: $29.25 million

10) Daniel Craig - No Time To Die: $25 million

So, Dwayne Johnson has beaten all the aforementioned actors to take the number one spot on the list. But one could argue that he has still just tied with Daniel Craig in that position as the latter struck a deal to make $100 million from both Glass Onion and Knives Out 3. Still, $50 million for a single movie is the biggest deal any actor has ever cracked for his/her base salary.

---

What is Red One about, and who is involved?

Dwayne Johnson and JK Simmons in Red One (Image via Amazon Studios)

Dwayne Johnson is set to play Callum Drift in the Jake Kasdan-directed film. Besides him, Chris Evans is also playing a crucial character, and JK Simmons is portraying a version of Santa Claus. Bonnie Hunt is Mrs. Claus, and Jeff Chase is Cyclops. Along with them, others in undisclosed roles involve Kiernan Shipka, Lucy Liu, and Wesley Kimmel.

Unfortunately, the film's plot is under wraps, and all that is known is that it is a holiday-themed action flick that involves Johnson as a superhuman. However, we should be getting a trailer very soon as the film is expected to arrive in 2023’s Holiday period.