Dwayne Johnson’s Holiday Movie Just Cast An Action Legend

Dwayne Johnson's Red One movie just cast Lucy Liu.

By Chad Langen | Published

Dwayne Johnson is reteaming with Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle director, Jake Kasdan, for the upcoming holiday flick Red One, which is being described as a globe-trotting action-adventure comedy that falls within the holiday genre. The film, which streaming giant Amazon Prime won in a bidding war, continues to round out its cast, with Johnson, Chris Evans, and Kiernan Shipka already attached to star. According to Deadline, action legend Lucy Liu will be joining the growing roster of acting talent in an unspecified role.

The story for Red One was conceived by Hiram Garcia, who has produced several projects starring Dwayne Johnson, including Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, Jumanji: The Next Level, and Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs and Shaw. Another one of Johnson’s frequent collaborators, Chris Morgan, has been tapped to pen the screenplay. His writing credits include several entries in Universal Pictures’ explosive Fast and the Furious franchise, Shazam! Fury of the Gods, and 47 Ronin.

Dwayne Johnson is currently one of the biggest celebrities on the planet, and he’s set to appear as the title character in the upcoming DC origin movie Black Adam, which arrives in theaters in just a few days. And speaking of DC, Lucy Liu will star as Kalypso in the highly anticipated sequel Shazam! Fury of the Gods next spring.

Although it comes as a bit of a surprise that the two actors have never appeared in a motion picture together, particularly since both Dwayne Johnson and Lucy Liu are both renowned action stars, it’s possible their characters could cross paths in the DCEU somewhere down the road, making Red One the first of many movies featuring the duo.

Although Lucy Liu hasn’t done a lot in the way of motion pictures in the last few years, she’s remained extremely active in the television world. She’s had prominent roles in critically acclaimed shows like Why Women Kill, Difficult People, and of course, Elementary, which ran for seven seasons between 2011 and 2019.

Recently, she’s secured roles in several big screen projects including The Invisibles, Kung Fu Panda 4, where she’ll once again voice the character Viper, and the forthcoming Red One, in which she’ll star alongside Dwayne Johnson and Chris Evans.

Since concluding his turn as Captain America in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (though there’s always a chance he could return), Chris Evans hasn’t taken any time to rest. Like Dwayne Johnson, he continues to churn out movie after movie, having recently starred alongside Ryan Gosling in this year’s Netflix thriller The Gray Man. Additionally, he voiced Buzz Lightyear in the Toy Story spin-off Lightyear, which arrived in theaters over the summer.

Although plot details for Amazon Prime’s upcoming action feature Red One are being kept heavily under wraps, the film has all the ingredients to be a massive hit for the streamer when it premieres late next year. Dwayne Johnson, Chris Evans, and Lucy Lui are known for their roles in explosive action flicks, and director Jake Kasdan and screenwriter Chris Morgan have delivered some high-profile features in the genre. Here’s to hoping the forthcoming flick gives us another movie to add to our traditional must-watch holiday films list.