Gangster comedy
Netflix has big plans with “Red Notice”
The actors Dwayne Johnson (lr), Gal Gadot and Ryan Reynolds at the premiere of “Red Notice” in Los Angeles. Photo: Jordan Strauss / Invision / AP / dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
The new Netflix film with Dwayne Johnson and Ryan Reynolds loots Hollywood classics in a row. Industry insiders rumor that it is the most expensive project of the streaming service to date.
How can Netflix top the global success “Squid Game” at all? The chances are certainly not bad for “Red Notice”. Because in this film, the makers threw all the successful formats into one mixer.
At some point you lose track of what you are actually seeing here as a viewer. Is that a comedy? A big hit? An adventure film? A crook strip? Dwayne Johnson, Ryan Reynolds and Gal Gadot chase around the world in the new Netflix film (available for streaming from November 12th, in theaters since November 4th).
Special Agent John Hartley (Johnson) is initially on the heels of art thief Nolan Booth (Reynolds). What begins as a cat-and-mouse game soon leads to a prison break and then to a crook comedy in the style of “Ocean’s Eleven”. The policeman needs the thief booth to bring down “the runner”, a sophisticated criminal (Gadot), horror of museums around the world.
The hunt leads the three onto the dance floor, into the jungle and to a Nazi treasure. Indiana Jones fans have a lot of déjà vu. In general, the film makes use of numerous Hollywood classics. Apparently the streaming giant wanted to mix everything for a mega success.
Because the bar is now very high. The brutal Korean thriller series “Squid Game” was viewed in 142 million households in the first four weeks after it started. This is a new record for Netflix and a growth driver at the same time.
After the corona pandemic in 2020 led to a veritable rush of subscribers, growth slowed sharply in the first half of 2021. The movie and series hits were simply missing. In the third quarter, the number of subscribers worldwide rose by 4.4 million to just under 214 million. Netflix now has to continue delivering after “Squid Game”. In addition to predictable hits such as the second season of the fantasy series “The Witcher”, “Red Notice” is likely to feature prominently in the plans.
Not surprisingly, with an estimated investment of up to 200 million dollars, according to US industry portals, “Red Notice” is one of the most expensive, if not the most expensive Netflix films to date. It is only logical that product placement, for example for sports cars and software, has been used more aggressively than seldom before.