Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is facing some heat as of late for his latest movie “Red One” after reports of tardiness and unprofessionalism on set.
According to a new report from TheWrap, the high-powered Christmas movie for Amazon MGM has now catapulted into a budget nightmare. The movie, originally slated for Christmas season of 2023, the theatrical release has been delayed to November 2024.
A mix of things have caused the delay including the labor strikes, but Johnson has also contributed to a large reason for the delays.
According to the allegations, more than a dozen insiders involved with the project, the production had a multitude of problems lead by the inexperienced lead producer, Hiram Garcia of Seven Bucks Productions, and Amazon MGM feature and production executives, Julie Rapaport and Glenn Gainor, who are overseeing the project.
The anonymous insiders came forward claiming that Johnson showed up at times nearly eight hours late to set.
The filming crew had to allegedly film around him on specific days. As far as Johnson’s previous track record, many noted that he had a habit of urinating in a water bottle to save time on production, which disturbed many on the set.
“On set, away from his trailer, if he needs to pee, he doesn’t go to the public bathroom,” one insider who knows the movie star well said. “He pees in a Voss water bottle and his team or a PA has to dispose of it.”
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In a statement to TheWrap, a spokesperson for Amazon MGM denied there were any on-set issues with “Red One” or delays caused by Johnson’s lateness or Seven Bucks’ inexperience which caused the film budget to balloon.
“Dwayne Johnson and Seven Bucks have been incredible partners on ‘Red One’—a film that audiences of all ages are going to love this holiday season,” the spokesperson said. “Our testing has been very strong — the reaction from CinemaCon speaks for itself — and we couldn’t have made it without Dwayne’s constant work and support. Any reporting that implies that we got to this point with him showing up seven-eight hours late to set is both ridiculous and false.”
Amazon MGM has gone quiet when it comes to promoting the movie as of late.
Back at CinemaCon, journalists handpicked by Johnson’s publicist, Meredith O’Sullivan, were apparently given 10 minutes of footage from the upcoming movie, but were told they could not write about the production as of yet.
Johnson has developed a large reputation for being late in the industry alongside other stars like Kevin Hart. According to the insiders, one stated, “The only thing Dwayne was consistent at was being chronically late.”
The star has even shown up to fan events late and leaving sets waiting while he is working out.
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Earlier in the month, Johnson was three hours late for Wrestlemania 40. A large amount of the crowd echoed boos as he was also two hours behind schedule for WWE World, a fan event in Philadelphia.
According to a WWE insider, Johnson’s late arrival was due to other WWE commitments, as well as traffic in Philadelphia on the way to the WWE World venue in Center City.
At the time, the star mentioned, “You’re booing because The Rock was a little late, that’s why you’re booing?” Johnson asked the crowd. “[The Rock] was watching YouTube, watching [Eagles quarterback] Jalen Hurts lose in the playoffs again.”
Chris Legentil, WWE’s executive vice president for talent relations and head of communications, told TheWrap, “Dwayne was not only on time for WrestleMania, he was hours early to help with rehearsal — and a pleasure to work with throughout the entire run.”
The Rock in Philly tonight dissing Jalen Hurts… pic.twitter.com/k7DPy68jbB
— Rob Hodge (@RobHodge_) April 4, 2024
On “Red One,” Johnson was late an average of seven to eight hours per day and missed several entire days of production, ballooning costs by at least $50 million according to three insiders who insisted on anonymity for fear of being fired.
“It was a f–king disaster,” one insider said. On days when Johnson didn’t show up at all, the production crew was forced to shoot around him, the insiders added.
“Dwayne truly doesn’t give a f–k,” one insider also stated.
Production start dates on “Red One” were also postponed twice due to Johnson’s commitments to the “Young Rock” series, the XFL’s relaunch and the extensive “Black Adam” press tour.
The allegations as of late are not new as well.
IN the psat for HBO’s “Ballers,” one source told TheWrap “They rent a location they can shoot as much as they can of other actors while they wait for him to decide if he’s coming to set.”
They also went on to say, “He was regularly three to four hours late to set. Keeping 100+ crew members waiting for no reason.” According to a third insider, in March of 2017 Johnson was six hours late to the “Ballers” set.
On “Rampage” the star was four to five hours late daily.
“Dwayne’s call times are never, ever published on the call sheet,” one of the insiders added. “It’s because one of the actors on ‘Rampage’ was keeping a log of how late DJ was to set every day.
On studio insider claimed that the tardiness is due to his heavy workout.
“It’s his absolute refusal to work more than a four-or five-hour day,” a studio insider added. Another insider suggested, “It’s a control thing.”
Vin Diesel even had an issue with the star showing up late to set for the “Fast & Furious” franchise.
“Vin has been having problems with The Rock because The Rock keeps showing up late for production,” an insider told People at the time.
Even Ryan Reynolds became furious after waiting five hours for his co-star on “Red Notice.”
Apparently the two had a “huge fight,” according to insiders. Johnson then stormed off set. The two stars didn’t speak for years until lately.
“Dwayne is the consummate professional and we’re thrilled to have worked with him on ‘Red Notice,’ our #1 film,” a Netflix spokesperson told TheWrap.
