Forget everything you thought you knew about Christmas. According to the rules of Red One – an all-action movie that looks set to deck the halls, right in the face – Santa’s operation is a near-military one, an organised operation that sees the superhuman gift-giver deploy every effort in order to bring joy to all those kids on Christmas morning. And that includes having Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson as a right-hand man – meet Callum Drift, less a Christmas elf than a member of the E.L.F.
“They’re not actually elves,” director Jake Kansan, previously behind Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle and its sequel The Next Level, tells Empire. “They’re the E.L.F., which stands for Enforcement, Logistics and Fortification.” Drift is a true believer in the festive fun – but when J.K. Simmons’ Santa (aka Nick, no ‘Saint’ required) is kidnapped, Drift is forced to team up with Chris Evans’ not-so-nice tracker Jack O’Malley to get the biggest day of the season back on track. “Cal has devoted his very long life to working for Nick, but he’s at a crisis point,” says Kasdan. “The world that he sees around him does not line up with the Christmas philosophy as he’s always known it.”
Even with Drift (and O’Malley) on the case, this is a Santa that can absolutely take care of himself – Red One’s Father Christmas is less about the mince pies, more about the ripped thighs. “If somebody could actually do all the things we know Santa can do, how powerful would you have to be?” asks Kasdan. “He’s got the warm heart, but he comes in the body of a workout fiend. J.K. is a force of nature.” Something tells us whoever has kidnapped Santa in Red One is about to get a face-load of coal.
Read Empire’s full Red One story in the 40 Years Of The Terminator issue, on sale Thursday 26 September. Pre-order a copy online here. Red One comes to UK cinemas from 6 November.