Red Theatrical release poster Directed by Robert Schwentke Produced by Lorenzo di Bonaventura ark !ahradian Screenplay by "on #oeber $rich #oeber Based on Red by Warren $llis %ully #amner Starring Bruce Willis or&an Freeman "ohn alkovich ary'Louise (arker #elen irren Music by %hristophe Beck Cinematography Florian Ballhaus dited by Thom )oble Production company *% $ntertainment #oma&e $ntertainment di Bonaventura (ictures %heyenne $nterprises *+ $ntertainment Distributed by Summit $ntertainment !elease date(s) ,ctober -., /0-0 !unning time --- minutes Country 1nited States "anguage $n&lish Budget 2.3 million 4-54/5 Bo# office 2-66,007,839 4-5 Red is a /0-0 :merican action comedy film inspired by the limited comic book series of the same name created by Warren $llis and %ully #amner, and published by the *% %omics imprint #oma&e; The film stars Bruce Willis, or&an Freeman, "ohn alkovich, ary'Louise (arker, #elen irren, and <arl 1rban with +erman film director Robert Schwentke directin& a screenplay by "on #oeber and $rich #oeber; =n the film version, the title is derived from the desi&nation of the status of a&ent Frank oses >Bruce Willis?, meanin& @Retired, $Atremely *an&erous@; The film was released on ,ctober -., /0-0; 485 : seBuel, Red 2, was released on "uly -6, /0-8; Contents - (lot / %ast 8 (roduction C Release . Reception o .;- %ritical response o .;/ BoA office o .;8 :wards 7 SeBuel 9 References 3 $Aternal links Plot Frank oses >Bruce Willis?, a former black'ops %=: a&ent, is retired and livin& a Buiet life in a %leveland suburb; #owever, Frank feels lonely and often chats on the phone with Sarah Ross >ary'Louise (arker?, a customer service a&ent who works for the +S: pension office in <ansas %ity; #e creates opportunities to talk to her by tearin& up his pension checks and callin& her to say they had never arrived; #is life is disrupted when a siA'person hit sBuad raids his house in the middle of the ni&ht; Frank handily kills the entire sBuad; <nowin& they have tapped his phone, he &oes to <ansas %ity to protect Sarah; She refuses to &o, so he binds and &a&s her with duct tape and she becomes FrankDs reluctant companion, while he tries to find out who is tryin& to kill him, and track down his old associates for help; eanwhile, %=: a&ent William %ooper ><arl 1rban? is assi&ned to hunt and kill Frank; Frank first &oes to )ew ,rleans and after leavin& Sarah bound and &a&&ed in their hotel room, he meets with his terminally ill mentor "oe atheson >or&an Freeman?, livin& in a retirement community; "oe tells Frank that the same hit sBuad was also responsible for the murder of a reporter for The New York Times; Sarah mana&es to break free but is rescued by Frank when another a&ent, posin& as a police officer, tries to dru& her; %ooper attacks them but Frank tricks the police, so that the police arrest %ooper, which &ives them time to escape; The two head to )ew Eork %ity and find clues left behind by the deceased reporter, which leads them to a hit list; They then track down arvin Bo&&s >"ohn alkovich?, also a former black ops a&ent and a paranoid conspiracy theorist, to provide more information; :fter readin& the list, arvin tells them that the names on the list are all connected to a -63- secret mission in +uatemala in which Frank and arvin participated, and that one person, +abriel Sin&er >"ames Remar?, is still alive; The trio track down Sin&er, who tells them that the mission involved eAtractin& a person from a villa&e and that everybody on the list has been killed to silence them; Sin&er is then assassinated by a helicopter'borne machine'&unner, and the team escapes as %ooper closes in; Frank &oes to eA'Russian secret a&ent =van Simanov >Brian %oA?, offerin& him a favor in eAchan&e for his help in infiltratin& %=: headBuarters; :lon& with Sarah, Frank &ets inside and the records keeper >$rnest Bor&nine? ' who has much respect for Frank ' simply hands him the +uatemala file; Frank &oes to confront %ooper in his office and the two have a vicious fi&ht; Thou&h Frank was victorious, he is shot by %ooper durin& his escape; #avin& escaped an attempt on his life, "oe arrives and helps eAtract the team; They all hide out in the home of !ictoria >#elen irren?, who treats FrankDs wound and ' also missin& her old life as a wetwork a&ent ' Foins the team; :fter reviewin& the file, all the team can fi&ure out is that the only man involved on the reporterDs list but not in the file, :leAander *unnin& >Richard *reyfuss?, has some way of protectin& himself; "oe masBuerades as a dictator from an unnamed country and secures a meetin& with *unnin&, who is an ille&al arms dealer; :s !ictoria waits outside with Sarah to keep watch, *unnin& reveals under interro&ation that the mission was to eAtract the nowG!ice (resident Robert Stanton >"ulian cahon?, who at the time was a youn& lieutenant who massacred the villa&e civilians, and that Stanton is tryin& to erase all the loose ends; :t that moment, %ooper and the FB= surround *unnin&Ds mansion; %ooper tries to ne&otiate FrankDs surrender, but Frank tells %ooper about the vice presidentDs treachery; "oe sacrifices himself by pretendin& to be Frank surrenderin&, and, as "oe eAits the house, he is killed by an unknown sniper; The confusion, as well as !ictoriaDs cover fire, buys the team enou&h time to escape, but Sarah falls down a slope and is captured; Frank calls %ooper from %ooperDs family home and threatens the family if Sarah is harmed, and says that he intends to kill Stanton; The team, alon& with =van, who is !ictoriaDs former lover, infiltrate StantonDs fundraisin& &ala in %hica&o and successfully kidnap him despite %ooperDs best efforts to stop them; Frank calls %ooper and says he is willin& to trade Stanton for Sarah; :t the meetin& point, *unnin& arrives and after a short dialo&ue shoots Stanton, revealin& that he is the mastermind behind the assassinations and that Stanton was merely a pawn; %ooperDs boss, %ynthia Wilkes >Rebecca (id&eon?, is also in on the plot; *is&usted with *unnin& and WilkesD &reed and corruption, %ooper pretends to &o alon& with handcuffin& Frank before shootin& Wilkes to death while arvin and !ictoria kill *unnin&Ds body&uards, and Frank crushes *unnin&Ds windpipe, killin& him; %ooper a&rees to let Frank and his team &o and he is left to sort thin&s out; :s they leave the scene, Frank and Sarah are ea&er to start a new life toðer; =van reminds Frank that he owes =van a favor; : few months later, Frank and arvin are in oldova, fleein& from oldovan :rmy troops with a stolen nuclear device, with arvin wearin& a dress and in a wooden wheelbarrow bein& pushed by Frank; Cast Bruce Willis 485 as Francis @Frank@ oses "ohn alkovich 4C54.5 as arvin Bo&&s or&an Freeman 475 as "oe atheson #elen irren 4C5495 as !ictoria Winslow ary'Louise (arker 485 as Sarah Ross <arl 1rban 435 as William %ooper Rebecca (id&eon as %ynthia Wilkes Brian %oA as =van Simanov "ulian cahon 465 as !ice (resident Robert Stanton $rnest Bor&nine 465 as #enry, The Records <eeper Richard *reyfuss 465 as :leAander *unnin& "ames Remar 4-05 as +abriel Sin&er Production +re&ory )oveck, a representative of *% %omics workin& in #ollywood to &et their titles made into films, wanted the comic developed but Warner Brothers was not interested; The creators of the comic eAercised their ri&ht to &o elsewhere but this reBuired approval from all divisions of Warner includin& television before it could be approved; :fter several years, in /003 )oveck was allowed to take the proFect elsewhere, to ark !ahradian at *i Bonaventura (roductions; 1nusually this made it the first film from *% not produced by Warner Bros; 4--5 =n "une /003, Summit $ntertainment announced plans to adapt Warren $llis and %ully #amnerDs Red; RED was adapted for the bi& screen by brothers $rich and "on #oeber, who also wrote the adaptations of Whiteout and Alice; The proFect was produced by Lorenzo di Bonaventura >GI Joe, Transformers?; 4-/5 By :pril /006, Bruce Willis was reportedly in discussions with Summit to take the starrin& role of Frank oses; 4-85 =t was reported in "uly /006 that or&an Freeman was in talks to co'star alon&side Bruce Willis in the film; 4-C5 :lso in "uly /006, Robert Schwentke, the director of The Time Travelers Wife and !li"ht#lan, was in ne&otiations to direct Red; 4-.5 =n :u&ust /006 Schwentke confirmed to $T% News that he was on board; #e stated that he loved the script but there are differences between the comic and the movie statin&H @=tDs very funny, which the comic book isnDt ;;; =tDs not as violent as the comic book,@ and that @The script that =Dve read is obviously different from the comic, because = donDt think the comic &ives you enou&h for a two'hour movie;@ 475 =n )ovember /006, it was reported that #elen irren would work alon&side Freeman and Willis in the film; 495 =t was also reported in )ovember /006 that "ohn %; Reilly and ary' Louise (arker were in ne&otiations to Foin the cast; Reilly would play a retired %=: a&ent who is paranoid that everyone is out to kill him; (arker would play the romantic interest, a federal pension worker who becomes embroiled in the Willis characterDs stru&&le to stay alive; 4-75 =n the same month "ulian cahon, $rnest Bor&nine, Richard *reyfuss and Brian %oA entered ne&otiations to Foin the cast; 465 =n *ecember /006, creator Warren $llis stated on his mailin& list that @>=? Read the RED script; )ot bad; )ot the book, but not bad; Funny; $specially when you know the castin&; !ery ti&ht piece of work; Talked to the producers last week; TheyDre all kind of &iddy over the castin& coups; Who wouldnDt want to see #elen irren with a sniper rifleI@ 4-95
:lso in *ecember /006 Summit $ntertainment announced a release date of ,ctober //, /0-0; 4-35 The same month "ames Remar was cast in an unspecified role, 4-05 in addition to <arl 1rban as @%ooper@; 435 =n "anuary /0-0 it was reported that "ohn alkovich had si&ned to star opposite Bruce Willis, replacin& "ohn %; Reilly, who eAited the role in late *ecember; 4.5 (rincipal photo&raphy be&an on "anuary -3, /0-0 in Toronto, %anada; Red was shot in and around the Toronto metropolitan area for nine weeks before movin& on to the road and endin& in )ew ,rleans in late arch for the final two weeks of principal photo&raphy; 485 Filmin& in the French Juarter of )ew ,rleans commenced in arch /0-0; 4-65 :dditional photo&raphy was shot for a post'credits scene in Louisiana in :u&ust /0-0; 4/05 !elease irren and Willis at a panel for the film at San *ie&o %omic'%on in "uly /0-0 : teaser trailer for Red was released in "une /0-0; 4/-5 The first full trailer debuted in "uly /0-0 at the San *ie&o %omic'%on =nternational; 4C5 The film premiered at +raumanKs %hinese Theatre in #ollywood, %alifornia on ,ctober --, /0-0; 4//54/85 Red was released on Blu'ray and *!* on "anuary /., /0--; 4/C5 !eception Critical response Reception for the film has been mostly positive; Red has a 9/L approval ratin& on Rotten Tomatoes based on -68 reviews with an avera&e ratin& of 7;CM-0; 4/.5 etacritic &ave the film a score of 7-M-00 based on a normalized ratin& of 89 reviews; 4/75 "ustin %han& of %ariet& stated Red is @:n amusin&, li&ht'footed caper about a team of a&in& %=: veterans rudely forced out of retirement@; 4/95 "ohn *eFore of The 'oll&wood Re#orter stated @:lthou&h tailor'made for &enre fans, it benefits from flavors of humor and romance that keep its appeal from bein& fanboy'only@; 4/35 %onversely, Ro&er $bert &ave the film two stars out of four, statin& that itDs @neither a &ood movie nor a bad one; =t features actors that we like doin& thin&s we wish were more interestin&;@ 4/65 :; ,; Scott of the New York Times said, @=t is possible to have a &ood time at R$*, but it is not a very &ood movie; =t doesnDt really try to be, and &iven the present state of the #ollywood economy, this may be a wise choice@; 4805 <enneth Turan of the (os An"eles Times said, @=tDs not that it doesnDt have effective moments, itDs that it doesnDt have as many as it thinks it does; The filmDs inescapable air of &lib self'satisfaction is not only lar&ely unearned, itDs downri&ht irritatin&@; 48-5 Bo# office ,n its openin& weekend Red earned an estimated 2//;. million on around C,-00 screens at 8,/.. locations, comin& in second behind Jackass )*D; 48/5 The film closed in theaters on February 8, /0--, &rossin& over 260 million in the 1nited States and total of over 2-37;. million worldwide; 4-5 $%ards $%ard Category &ominee !esult 73th +olden +lobe :wards 4885 Best otion (icture ' usical or %omedy )ominated Satellite :ward 4citation needed5 Best Film )ominated Best :ctor ' otion (icture "ohn alkovich )ominated Best :ctress ' otion (icture ary'Louise (arker )ominated Se'uel ain articleN Red / >film? !eferences -; @R$* >/0-0?@; +o, -ffice $o.o; :mazon;com; Retrieved arch /., /0--; /; Fritz, Ben >,ctober -C, /0-0?; @ovie (roFectorN Bruce Willis &unnin& for "ohnny <noAville as DR$*D opens a&ainst D"ackass 8'*D@; (os An"eles Times >Tribune %ompany?; Retrieved ,ctober -7, /0-0; @The studio spent about 270 million to make @R$*@ after taA credits@ 8; @Red Be&ins (rincipal (hoto&raphy@; MFilm; "anuary -3, /0-0; Retrieved "anuary -3, /0-0; C; %havez, <ellvin >"uly //, /0-0?; @S*%% /0-0N )ew R$* Trailer@; (atino Review; Retrieved "uly /8, /0-0; .; @"ohn alkovich si&ns on for DRedD@; The #ollywood Reporter; "anuary -0, /0-0; Retrieved "anuary -6, /0-0; 4dead link5 7; @$O%L1S=!$N Robert SchwentkeDs DRedD :daptation To Be : DFunnyD Take ,n Warren $llisD Story@; $T% /#lash 0a"e; :u&ust C, /006; Retrieved "anuary /0, /0-0; 9; @%astin& )otesN :lan %ummin& in BurlesBueH irren *oes $spiona&eH *empsey Steals Lau&hsH Weaver and Shawkat #it %edar Rapids@; MFilm; )ovember C, /006; Retrieved "anuary -6, /0-0; 3; Rob ; Worley >*ecember /-, /006?; @TR$< *oc cast in R$*@; mania;com; Retrieved "anuary /0, /0-0; 6; @"ulian cahon sees DRedD@; The #ollywood Reporter; )ovember -/, /006; Retrieved "anuary -6, /0-0; 4dead link5 -0; "ustin <roll >*ecember -C, /006?; @"ames Remar@; %ariet&; Retrieved "anuary /0, /0-0; --; <it, Borys >,ctober -8, /0-0?; @Secret ,ri&inN #ow DR$*D escaped Warner Bros; and ended up at Summit@; The 'oll&wood Re#orter; Retrieved "anuary /6, /0--; -/; @Warren $llisK Red and ,cean #eaded to the Bi& Screen@; MFilm; "une -/, /003; Retrieved "anuary -6, /0-0; -8; @Bruce Willis is livin& hard@; Risky Business; :pril /6, /006; Retrieved "anuary /0, /0-0; 4dead link5 -C; @or&an Freeman "oins The Bi& Screen :daptation of Warren $llisK Red@; MFilm; "uly -6, /006; Retrieved "anuary -6, /0-0; -.; @*irector closes in on DRedD@; The #ollywood Reporter; "uly /3, /006; Retrieved "anuary /0, /0-0; 4dead link5 -7; @"ohn %; Reilly, ary'Louise (arker seein& DRedD@; The #ollywood Reporter; )ovember C, /006; Retrieved "anuary -6, /0-0; 4dead link5 -9; Warren $llis >)ovember 80, /006?; @B:* S=+):L 1n&h@; Retrieved "anuary -6, /0-0; -3; @Red +ets /0-0 Release *ate@; MFilm; *ecember -9, /006; Retrieved "anuary -6, /0-0; -6; @R$* ovie Set (ictures@; %omicBookovie;com; arch 8-, /0-0; Retrieved :pril -, /0-0; /0; @Willis, alkovich head south for Buick DRedD shoot >eAclusive?@; The #ollywood Reporter; :u&ust -6, /0-0; Retrieved :u&ust /8, /0-0; 4dead link5 /-; @$Aclusive Teaser Trailer@; Yahoo1; Retrieved "une /C, /0-0; //; @PRed,K L: (remiere@; Access 'oll&wood; ,ctober -/, /0-0; Retrieved "anuary -3, /0--; /8; @e and my &irlsN Bruce Willis proudly shows off his wife and eldest dau&hter Rumer on the red carpet of new film Red@; Dail& $ail; ,ctober -/, /0-0; Retrieved "anuary -3, /0--; /C; @R$* ' ,fficial ovie Website@; Red'themovie;com; Retrieved "anuary 8-, /0--; /.; @Red ovie Reviews, (ictures@; Rotten Tomatoes; FliAster; Retrieved ,ctober /-, /0-0; /7; @Red >/0-0?N Reviews@; $etacritic; %BS =nteractive; Retrieved ,ctober -., /0-0; /9; %han&, "ustin >September /6, /0-0?; @Red@; %ariet&; Retrieved ,ctober 7, /0-0; /3; "ohn *eFore >September /6, /0-0?; @Red '' Film Review@; The 'oll&wood Re#orter; Retrieved ,ctober /-, /0-0; /6; Ro&er $bert >,ctober -8, /0-0?; @Red@; ro"ere2ert3com; %hica&o Sun Times; Retrieved ,ctober -C, /0-0; 80; :; ,; Scott >,ctober -C, /0-0?; @Who Ea %allinK +ramps, "uniorI@; New York Times; Retrieved :u&ust -., /0-/; 8-; <enneth Turan >,ctober -., /0-0?; @ovie reviewN DRedD@; (os An"eles Times; Retrieved :u&ust -., /0-/; 8/; +ray, Brandon >,ctober -9, /0-0?; @D"ackassD %rashes =nto Fall Record@; +o, -ffice $o.o; :mazon;com; Retrieved ,ctober -3, /0-0; 88; @The 73th :nnual +olden +lobe :wards ),=):T=,)S Q ,FF=%=:L W$BS=T$ of the #F(: and the +,L*$) +L,B$ :W:R*S@; +olden&lobes;or&; *ecember -C, /0-0; Retrieved "anuary 8-, /0--; #ternal lin(s ,fficial website Red at the =nternet ovie *atabase Red at :llovie Red 42565 film7 at the T% ovie *atabase Red at BoA ,ffice oFo Red at Rotten Tomatoes )sho%* + t e "i+e,action films based on DC Comics )sho%* + t e -ilms directed by !obert Sch%ent(e %ate&oriesN /0-0 films $n&lish'lan&ua&e films /0-0s action films /0-0s comedy films Spy comedy films :merican spy films :merican action comedy films Films set in %leveland, ,hio Films set in <ansas %ity, issouri Films set in )ew ,rleans, Louisiana Films set in )ew Eork %ity Films set in !ir&inia Films set in Florida Films set in :labama Films set in aryland Films set in %hica&o, =llinois Films set in oldova Films shot in )ew ,rleans, Louisiana Films shot in Toronto %entral =ntelli&ence :&ency in fiction Summit $ntertainment films Films based on works by Warren $llis Films based on Wildstorm titles Films directed by Rober