Cameras are rolling today onDwayne Johnson’s first-ever Netflix original film. Last year, the streaming service picked up the package forRed Notice—which included the script, Johnson, and directorRawson Marshall Thurber—for a pretty penny, and subsequently put together an ace trio in the lead. Johnson is joined in the cast by Wonder Woman herselfGal GadotandRyan Reynolds. Johnson has ties to both actors onscreen. Gadot, of course, had a role in theFast & Furiousfranchise and Reynolds most recently had a scene-stealing cameo opposite Johnson in the spinoffHobbs & Shaw.
Red Noticeis described as a globe-trotting action heist thriller based on an original idea by Thurber, and was previously poised to be made by Universal which produced Thurber and Johnson’s actionerSkyscraper. But when Universal became nervous about the growing budget forRed Notice, Thurber shopped the project to Netflix and the streamer picked it up rather quickly—at a hefty price. Reports pegged the budget at $130 million, which doesn’t include a reported $20 million salary for Johnson and eight-figure deal for Thurber. And that’s before you add Reynolds and Gadot into the mix.
Netflix reportedly hopes to launch a franchise withRed Notice, and honestly what studiowouldn’twant a film series headed up by Johnson, Gadot, and Reynolds?
Johnson broke the news of the filming start on his Instagram, which teases the plot: In the world of international crime, an Interpol issued RED NOTICE is a global alert to hunt down and capture the world’s most wanted. The world’s greatest art thief. The world’s greatest tracker. The world’s greatest conman.
Your guess is as good as mine as to who’s playing who, but this one should be interesting. After making a name for himself in the comedy realm with films likeDodgeballandWe’re the Millers, Thurber directed Johnson inCentral Intelligenceand followed that up with hisDie Hard-inspiredSkyscraper. I’m curious to see him put his stamp on the heist genre, and again you can’t really ask for a more charismatic cast than the one he’s got here.
AfterRed Notice, Johnson moves directly into shooting his big DC Comics debutBlack Adam,which starts production in July.
Check out Johnson’s Instagram post below.Red Noticeis expected to be released on Netflix in 2021.
