Netflix is committing to a big budget action thriller that will feature a trio of top Hollywood stars. According to Deadline, Netflix has agreed to take on the feature film Red Notice which will feature Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Gal Gadot, and Ryan Reynolds.
The film is described as “a globetrotting action heist” and is “centered around the pursuit of the most wanted art thief in the world.” Red Notice was previously set to be taken on by Universal Pictures, which initially won a bidding war for the script.
However, Universal dropped the project and Netflix, which was the runner-up in the bidding war, decided to jump in.
From the report:
When first sold as a pitch, Red Notice was one of the biggest film packages brokered last year, including a $20 million salary for Johnson and an eight-figure deal for Thurber, who directed Johnson in Central Intelligence and Skyscraper. Adding Gadot and Reynolds to that mix made for no small challenge for Netflix’s dealmakers: instead of breakeven gross against upfront salaries dished out by studios in success, Netflix pays upfront salaries and buys out backend. All in all, Netflix has committed to arguably its biggest star-package feature film to date, with a production budget in the $130 million range, this for a project the company believes will deliver a new franchise with global appeal.
“I admire the ambition of Netflix to become one of the biggest movie studios in the world,” Johnson, who is entering his first major project with Netflix, told Deadline.
“Their original content generates critical acclaim and invites full collaboration on every level of production. Their unbridled enthusiasm for Red Notice is equally matched by their commitment to entertaining audiences on an international scale.”
Production for Red Notice is set to begin in 2020. Rawson Marshall Thurber will direct the film.
