Ragesh Dipu
Ryan Reynolds has joined Dwayne Johnson and Gal Gadot in the upcoming heist thriller ‘Red Notice.’ According to The Wrap, the movie has also moved to Netflix from Universal Pictures, which was its first home. The action flick hit headlines in February when studio giants locked horns in a fierce bidding war for the rights to the movie. Universal and Legendary emerged as the winner with signing on Dwayne Johnson for his career-best deal of a massive $22M, while Netflix ended up as the runners-up.
Universal also tapped director Rawson Marshall Thurber to helm the big-budget project which reportedly cost the studio $125M at the time of its announcement. The project also becomes the biggest film commitment made by Netflix to date with a revised budget that falls in the $130M range.
‘Red Notice’ follows a hot pursuit of one of the most skilled art thieves in the world. Though the plot details are under the hood, initial reports hint at a globetrotting action heist thriller in the making.
The film is produced by Beau Flynn for FlynnPictureCo. in association with Johnson, Dany Garcia and Hiram Garcia for their Seven Bucks Productions as well as Thurber. Scott Sheldon joins the project as an executive producer.
“With ‘Red Notice,’ our goal at Seven Bucks Productions was to break down traditional barriers and create a true global event for the audience,” Johnson is quoted as saying by The Wrap, “Netflix has illustrated that they are the perfect partners to accomplish this goal.”
According to Thurber, “I’m beyond thrilled to be making ‘Red Notice’ with Scott Stuber and Netflix — a company that believes in filmmakers and big ideas for a global audience.”
While the movie marks the first creative partnership between Johnson and the streaming giant, Reynolds gets a head start with the recently wrapped Netflix flick ‘6 Underground’ directed by Michael Bay. The streamer is also developing a separate project for Johnson titled ‘John Henry and the Statesman,’ in association with FlynnPictureCo. and Seven Bucks.
The recent reports from the Netflix’s war room contradict the earlier ones that the streaming giant is rethinking to turn its spending strategy on its head after the highly-anticipated ‘Triple Frontier’ sank without a trace. But Netflix seems to move on with a handful of mammoth projects featuring A-listers that include Ryan Murphy’s upcoming musical ‘The Prom’ starring Meryl Streep, Nicole Kidman, James Corden, and Ariana Grande, George Clooney’s directorial venture ‘Good Morning, Midnight’ and Denzel Washington, Viola Davis and Chadwick Boseman project ‘Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.’
Cover Image Courtesy: Marvel (Deadpool).
