“Red One” director on how the action-comedy is a Christmas film, but 'a little more kick-ass' and 'epic'

Plus, Jake Kasdan explains why the movie's Santa, played by J. K. Simmons, had to be buff.

When director Jake Kasdan set out to make his latest film, the action-comedy Red One, he had one specific objective in mind: A Christmas movie, but make it "epic" and "make it a little more kick-ass."

The project first came to him by way of perhaps the king of kicking ass, Dwayne Johnson, whom he directed in 2017's Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle and its 2019 sequel, Jumanji: The Next Level. Johnson called Kasdan to relay that his producing partner Hiram Garcia had the idea for a "wild Christmas action movie that takes place partly in the world as we know it, and then partly in this mythological realm," Kasdan tells Entertainment Weekly.

Chris Morgan — whose many credits include several entries in the Fast & Furious franchise — penned the screenplay from Garcia's story idea, and the result is a film that follows a very buff Santa Claus (J.K. Simmons), a.k.a. Red One, who gets kidnapped. The North Pole's Head of Security, played by Johnson, is then forced to team up with the world’s most infamous bounty hunter and Level 4 Naughty-Lister (Chris Evans) in a reindeer-filled mission to save Christmas.

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Three films in, Kasdan says he and Johnson have a shorthand, mutual trust, and a shared sense of humor on their projects. Of his star, Kasdan says, "I believe that he's a singular film presence. And if it's the exact right thing for him, then he's able to do things that really nobody else can do, and you can't picture anyone else in a part that he's played. The Bravestone character in the Jumanji movies was like that, and in a completely different way, Cal, his character in this movie, is also like that."

The idea of Johnson as a security guy for old St. Nick opened up "the whole world" of the film to Kasdan, who sees it as "pulling back the curtain and showing you what Christmas really is as opposed to what you thought it was from childhood."

There's no better example of that than Santa himself. As played by Simmons — the first actor Kasdan says he thought of for the part — Red One's Santa is incredibly fit, and not exactly the jolly, ho-ho-ho-ing icon familiar to audiences. This characterization was a nonnegotiable for the film. "Whoever it is that could pull off this giant mission every year perfectly without fail would be, in fact, a formidable guy. He was very impressive and he would run an operation almost more like a general or a quarterback, and he could have all of the warmth and charm and big-heartedness that we know defines Santa, but that his manner could be a little tougher," explains Kasdan.

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He continues, "With that came an attitude in the way that he presents himself, as well as this idea that you've got to train hard to pull that off every year — he's got to visit a lot of houses — and so he spends the year keeping in shape and making sure that he is in top form on the big night."

Part of the challenge of making the film was making sure it delivered on both the action and the Noel of it all, says Kasdan. "You don't do this if you don't love Christmas movies," he says. "So a big part of it was trying to figure out how to bring in all of those Christmas elements, even in this slightly edgier, more aggressive kind of action-comedy and let them resonate on their own."

In addition to Santa, that meant reinterpreting reindeer into giant beasts "almost the size of an elephant" with antlers that glow when they fly — or, in other words, creatures that are capable of pulling off such an all-encompassing, worldwide mission every year. The film also depicts a Krampus and massive, Hulk-like snowmen.

There's also, of course, the North Pole to think about. "We have a version of the North Pole that we pull back the curtain on and see that, unbeknownst to anyone, the North Pole is actually this metropolis, right?" Kasdan says. "It's like this giant, industrial, magic, Christmas capital. And it has this cityscape to it that when we see it and when we arrive there, the operation is so much bigger than we ever imagined, which, when you think about it, it makes sense."

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Making the film over the last few years was likewise a massive operation, and Kasdan — whose offices have been littered with Christmas decorations seemingly in perpetuity — jokes that his relationship to the holiday "has shifted a bit" in the process. The film has been completed for a while, he says, but, understandably, Amazon MGM Studios wanted release the film closer to the Yuletide season — Nov. 15, to be exact. But, he can finally hear those sleigh bells ringing once and for all: "It's been a journey because it's a great big movie, but I couldn't be more excited for people to finally see this thing. We made it hoping that people would get together with their family and go to the movies as Christmas is approaching, and that it could be that kind of experience for people. I'm glad that the opportunity is finally here."

Red One also stars Lucy Liu, Bonnie Hunt, Kiernan Shipka, Kristofer Hivju, Nick Kroll, and Wesley Kimmel.

Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly.