“Big stars, big action... big budget!”
With a near $200 million budget, Red Notice is one of Netflix’s biggest blockbusters yet. What did they splash the cash on?
THE MEGASTARS!
As heist movies go, Red Notice is about as A-list as they come: Ryan Reynolds, Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson and Gal Gadot share lead billing.“i mean, talk about charisma,” marvels the film’s director, Rawson Marshall Thurber. “I feel very, very fortunate. It’s a little bit like directorial cheating, having all three of them together in the same frame. Chemistry is just not a function of writing or even directing — it’s a function of casting.” Their salaries alone could probably fund a small country — but Thurber is certain that the actors are worth it. “You either have it or you don’t. And those guys have something special.” Dwayne Johnson, he explains, plays an “FBI profiler who specialises in art crime. He is on the hunt for Ryan Reynolds, who plays the most wanted art thief in the world. Gal Gadot plays this mysterious figure in the art world. As they say… high-jinks ensue.”
THE ACTION!
Described as an action comedy, Thurber is keen to “keep both of those dishes spinning”, but given the price tag, won’t be skimping on the former. “I think in terms of old-school throwback big action,” he says. By way of example, one sequence — an “escape from a maximum-security Russian prison perched atop this icy mountain in the Ural Mountains” — features a “Temple Of Doom bridge that may or may not explode,” plus a “heavy duty Russian helicopter, with a very big gun on it.”
THE OPENING FIVE MINUTES!
Though Thurber “doesn’t really make a distinction” between streaming or theatrical audiences, this is a film designed and made for Netflix — and in order to hold viewers’ attention (and viewing figures, given Netflix defines anything watched for at least two minutes as a ‘view’), the film needs to be front-loaded. “The only thing to consider when you’re talking about streaming versus theatrical is making sure that the first five minutes grab the audience by the lapels,” he explains. Red Notice, by that token, opens with “fireworks.” Thurber hopes that the streaming audiences will have the same reaction he has: “I have a big dumb grin on my face every time I watch it,” he says. “Y’know… big stars, big action, big laughs, big budget!”