### "Red One" Falters at Box Office Debut with $34.1 Million

In its opening weekend, the Christmas-themed action comedy "Red One," starring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson as Santa's top security officer, managed to generate $34.1 million from 4,032 North American theaters. This performance was enough to dethrone "Venom: The Last Dance" after its three-week reign at the domestic box office. Despite topping the charts, "Red One" faces scrutiny due to its mammoth $250 million budget, not including an additional $100 million for global marketing expenses.

The film, produced by Amazon MGM, enters an increasingly complex debate over the financial success of high-budget films, especially as streaming services alter traditional business models. "Red One" will need a prolonged theatrical run through the holiday season to recover its substantial costs, highlighting the industry's shifting dynamics. Critics were largely unimpressed, evidenced by its 33% "rotten" rating on Rotten Tomatoes. However, audience reactions were more favorable, earning the film an "A-" on CinemaScore.

David A. Gross of Franchise Entertainment Research commented on the financial strategy, noting, "A $250 million budget for a Santa Claus story is excessive. This opening isn’t disastrous but insufficient against such a high production cost.”

Internationally, "Red One" managed to pull in an additional $14.7 million from 75 markets during its second weekend, bringing its global total to $84.1 million. Kevin Wilson, Amazon MGM's head of theatrical distribution, expressed cautious optimism about the film’s performance against competitive upcoming releases like "Wicked," "Gladiator II," and "Moana 2," emphasizing that Amazon MGM views theatrical releases as a method to generate buzz for Prime Video rather than solely chase box office revenue.

In other box office news, "Venom 3" shifted to second place, earning $7.3 million from 3,421 theaters, and accumulating $127.6 million domestically and $436.1 million globally. Lionsgate's "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever" claimed the third spot with $5.4 million from 3,020 venues, bringing its North American gross to $19.9 million after two weekends.

A24's horror film "Heretic" dropped to fourth place, earning $5.16 million from 3,230 screens and amassing $20.4 million in ten days. "The Wild Robot" from Universal and DreamWorks Animation rounded out the top five with $4.3 million from 2,894 theaters, achieving a domestic total of $137.7 million and a global sum of $308 million.

With overall domestic box office revenues still down by 11% from last year and nearly 27% from 2019 levels, industry experts are hopeful for a significant boost during Thanksgiving with major releases like "Gladiator II," "Wicked," and "Moana 2" set to hit the screens in late November. According to Comscore analyst Paul Dergarabedian, this lineup could ensure one of the most robust Thanksgiving box office periods in history.