The Rock is being mocked for comparing Red One to Oppenheimer
Warner Bros./Universal PicturesThe Rock can always put a wildly positive spin on any of his movies, but his latest promotional clip takes the cake: he’s claimed Oppenheimer inspired him to pursue the biggest and best IMAX screens for… Red One.
Cast your mind back to Black Adam, the movie that was supposed to see Dwayne Johnson change the hierarchy of power in the DC universe. It underperformed, financially and critically, but The Rock insisted it made profit – something that’s been widely disputed.
Understandably, he is a non-stop PR machine; that’s what happens when you’re behind some of the highest-grossing movies of all time and a businessman. However, his newest Red One claim has been met with a fairly unanimous, laugh-out-loud response.
In a new video for IMAX, Johnson says he wanted to make a new movie for audiences to “enjoy on the biggest screen possible.”
“I was midway through shooting Red One. I had an opportunity to go watch Oppenheimer, and I watched it in the IMAX theater where Christopher Nolan watches and screens his movies… and I even asked, ‘Let me sit where Chris is sitting,'” he recalls.
“So I sat where Chris sat, I watch Oppenheimer, it was amazing… and I was thinking, ‘Red One on this screen, with this technology, can be game over.'”
Opppenheimer wasn’t just the best movie of 2023 – it was a decade-defining cultural event and arguably Christopher Nolan’s greatest film to date. No disrespect to The Rock, but Red One isn’t in the same league (it has a 37% Rotten Tomatoes score).
“The Rock saw Oppenheimer in IMAX and his first thought was literally, ‘Yeah, but what if I was watching abysmal sh*t,'” one user joked. “Can’t even hate on this level of self-servicing delusion. All-time quote right here,” another wrote.
“Comparing your sh*tty action film with a generational masterpiece is f**king hilarious,” a third wrote. “The Rock is unintentionally the funniest person on the planet,” a fourth added. “Bro Red One is not Oppenheimer the best seat to watch it is the toilet seat,” a fifth wrote.
Before it hits US cinemas on November 15, check out our Red One review, our list of the best movies of 2024 so far, and what we know about Christopher Nolan’s next movie.