SPOILER WARNING: This article contains some spoilers for Red Notice, which is now streaming on Netflix.
The hunt is on in Netflix's Red Notice, which sends John Hartley (Dwayne Johnson), Nolan Booth (Ryan Reynolds) and The Bishop (Gal Gadot) on a madcap adventure across the globe. The unlikely trio bounces from Italy to Spain to Egypt and Argentina and back again in pursuit of Cleopatra's eggs, a set of rare artifacts that have been lost to the ages -- until now. The mission makes and breaks a few unlikely relationships, providing plenty of fodder for this zany, action-packed flick.
Speaking to CBR, Red Notice producer Hiram Garcia explained how the film captures the fun of movies he loved growing up. He described Red Notice as a "wish fulfillment" film that will transport audiences all over the world and revealed why Ed Sheeran was always the musician they had in mind for that surprise cameo. He shared the challenges posed by the coronavirus (COVID) pandemic and how that forced them to get creative behind-the-scenes. He also teased "a bunch of Easter eggs" in a key scene, his work on Black Adam and more.
CBR: From what I understand, Red Notice may, in fact, be the most expensive movie Netflix has ever made. What do you think it is about the project that invited such confidence from the studio?
Hiram Garcia: I like to say it's the biggest movie they've ever made, not the most expensive, because everyone's very hidden about the expenses. I think the only thing that really added to our numbers was that we were shooting during a pandemic. So the pandemic threw a curveball with COVID cost that I think all of us had to incur, that you're never prepared for, but I do like to say, scale-wise, it's the biggest movie they ever made.
Look, I think the confidence behind it was, from the inception of the pitch to what Rawson [Marshall Thurber] was able to create, it was a story that the entire town was fighting over. They just really loved the story. I think the idea of this fun, globe-trotting, heist-ish kind of a vibe movie with three giant movie stars behind it, just [was] really fun and appealing.
It's a little bit of a throwback to movies from back in the day. You don't really have as many of these movies anymore that aren't based around giant IP or a superhero movie, right? The idea of a story that brings together giant movie stars that isn't based on some kind of a comic book or established IP is very unique and fresh.
Netflix was really ambitious about it and believed in the project like we did and really did everything that was required to allow us to make the movie as best we could. Then, especially once the pandemic hit, making sure that we could not only make the movie and complete it, but to do it in a really safe way that kept our cast and crew safe and able to complete the movie while providing for their family.
Red Notice is a globe-spanning adventure, and we get to see our characters in places like Rome and Argentina. How did filming on location enhance the film, in your opinion?
I think, ultimately, that is one of the things that audiences love so much is the wish fulfillment of those movies that go all over the place, right? It just feels big, and you're going to places that probably some of us hadn't been able to go and we'd love to go. But that was always part of the nature of it.
We like making movies that are not only international friendly, but just create an environment of wish fulfillment for fans to watch. Even if you're watching at home, on your couch, to just have the fun of seeing a Fiji or a Bali or or Spain or Italy -- you name it! We went all over the place.
So for us, it was always in the pitch from the beginning was the idea that this went around the world. The challenge, again, when the pandemic hit, was, "Alright, how do we actually facilitate that?" Because the truth is the pandemic hit right when we were wrapping up our Atlanta stage work, and we were about to take -- as we like to call it -- the circus on the road and start to go around internationally and put our actors in these locations.
When the pandemic hit, that threw a very big curve ball. So we had to be very creative in terms of how we were still able to pull off those sequences, while keeping our main core on a stage in a back lot. So hopefully, audiences really can't feel those challenges and they'll feel that our actors were everywhere, but the truth was, given the pandemic, we had to be very creative with it and do some movie magic to make sure it felt like all those actors were in those locations.
As I was watching, I picked up some Indiana Jones vibes, maybe a little Uncharted and National Treasure, too. What would you say inspired the tone of the film?
Look, there was a lot of inspiration from different kinds of movies. Yeah, there's a fun Indiana Jones element. But that's the fun of making movies! I think we all love to pay homage to some of the movies that inspired us as kids growing up that made us want to be in the film business, do little nods to these things.
Obviously, in that sequence when they're in Argentina and they're looking for the bunker, you really feel those Indiana vibes that we like, but one of the big catalysts for Rawson to even think of this movie was the iconic scene in Heat between [Al] Pacino and [Robert] De Niro when they're talking. That was one of the first things that just made Rawson even think about wanting to do a movie like this.
He's like, "I want to create a movie where I have some of the biggest movie stars in the world face-to-face in a really awesome scene that makes people go, 'Oh my god, this is incredible!'" And he's like, "Well, you know what's even better than two? What about if I do three of the biggest movie stars in the world!"
So there are lots of elements in this movie that give a tip of the hat to some of these great movies that we loved growing up, but Rawson did a really good job of combining them all together into a very unique fun, adventure. I love that you picked up on it. Look, I mean even at that one point, Ryan is even whistling the Indy theme when he gets down there as a nice little nod.
There's a bunch of Easter eggs in that bunker, by the way, if you ever play back in slow motion, of really cool little things you'll see in back scenes that are nods to movies we love and scenes and things we're developing the future, so it's really fun.
Speaking of Easter eggs, I want to know everything about that Ed Sheeran cameo. How did that happen? Was he always your first pick of musician?
So that has always been in the pitch. Always! Again, it's a really clever -- you know, Rawson is just a really good storyteller. It was just a very clever device he had in the pitch at the end, where you have the whole movie about these eggs and getting these eggs that are so valuable and $300+ million someone's gonna pay for the eggs and you finally get to the moment where all the eggs are got and all the twists and turns have happened and the father delivers the eggs to the daughter, and she runs right by them because Ed Sheeran is in the background. She could care less about the eggs that we've watched a whole movie of these actors killing themselves to get!
So again, it's just the fun of the movie where we like to continue taking the legs out from the audience. But I'll tell you, from day one, it was Ed Sheeran. It was an Ed Sheeran pitch, and we fought all the way through to make sure we can get Ed Sheeran. It was a really big challenge to try and pull it off and shoot him. He was over in London when we were doing it and we had to go over there to go grab some elements from him, but that was always the vision and he was such a trooper.
I think it's a really fun button at the end of the movie, and he played ball. We're really happy we were able to get it. But yeah, that was always in there. From day one, Rawson wanted it to be Ed Sheeran. That was the singer he had pitched, and that was the singer we got.
Dwayne Johnson and Ryan Reynolds are obviously pros at the whole improv thing, so I'm wondering: how much of the final cut was scripted, and how much of it was just their natural chemistry and ability to riff off one another?
This is the beauty of those guys together is they are so much fun together, and Rawson is great. Rawson comes from a comedy background. So we always would grab the scene first and the other dialogue and then Rawson would let them play -- and especially you let Ryan play, right? I think especially, because the majority of that movie, DJ is playing a little bit more of the straight man, so it's a lot of Ryan just being super all over the place.
So it's fun to just cut the reins free, let Ryan do what he's got to do. Ryan is such a comedic genius and he always comes in with so much material that he's ready to do to make a scene even better, that once you start to get into those deeper takes, that's where you really started to get a lot of the gold, and I think that's a lot of the scenes that ended up in the movie.
Dwayne's chemistry with Gal Gadot is obviously a key part of this story. What, to you, was the most important piece of that?
Oh my god! Crazy, right? I think that dance. That dance was sizzling -- like, the monitors were sizzling! You're like, "Man, these two together are awesome!" [laughs] They're so formidable. They're both just these gorgeous specimens of humans on top of being incredible actors.
Everybody had such a good friendship and chemistry from our Fast and Furious days. It was really awesome to see them together, and just to see how Gal elevated the whole movie. I think her dynamic among the guys, what she brought to the character, especially how she just made the Bishop that much more interesting... I mean, I can't speak enough about her and her talents as an actress and just as a kind person. Every day she'd come on set, she'd light up the set. She's such a pro. She's so kind to every member of the crew, always smiling, always having fun.
Really, it was just great energy and, again, during a time where the second half of that movie was a challenging time to film, her energy along with Ryan and DJ's and how good they were to the crew and how positive and fun they were just really helped make a very challenging filming situation through the pandemic that much better.
Obviously, the ending of the film leaves the story open to be explored in sequels. Is that something that's being actively discussed, or are you waiting to see how the film performs first?
We never like to get ahead of ourselves. Look, as good producers and filmmakers, we're always ready. We always have a backup plan. We definitely have story ideas of where we'd like the franchise to go, but it's only if the fans deem it worthy. Once the fans like it, and if we get the audience reaction we're hoping we will and from what we've heard so far, then as good filmmakers, we definitely have stories that we want to tell that would continue the journey of these three.
I feel like, at least recently, Dwayne has been leaning more towards playing heroic type characters, but with Red Notice and Black Adam coming up, we're seeing a shift back to something a little more villainous. What appeals to you about exploring that darker, gray area again with him?
I think, you know, when we can put him in situations where -- I think it's just like you said! I think people are very used to heroic versions of DJ, right? I mean, he's a heroic guy. He's just a natural leader. He's very charismatic. He's very positive, loves to give advice. He has all the elements of a hero. So anytime we can play against those types a bit and still deliver a lot of the things that fans like and still deliver something different is really appealing to us.
So the idea of him playing a character like Hartley, who is very complex and has multiple layers to him was really fun -- and look, especially him coming into the superhero universe as an antihero, basically being smack dab in the middle of the debate, which I've always loved, right? It's always one of the great superhero debates, and you hear so much, attached especially to Batman, the idea of what is a hero supposed to do? You know, the trope of a Batman and a Superman is, no matter what, you bring the villain to justice. You bring them and you make him have his day in court and he needs to be tried in a court of law.
The great debate is, as well: is that right? Should Batman let the Joker keep going to prison and breaking out and killing more people? How many of those deaths are on Batman's shoulders? So with Black Adam, you have a character who is the judge, jury and executioner. He very much feels that, if this is a bad person, I will eliminate them from this Earth and they will never be able to hurt anyone else again. He's on the other side, where he will take justice into his own hands, and that's not the typical hero trope.
Also, there's the danger of, if you cross him or you make him really mad, well, not only will he take out his vengeance, but there may be a lot of collateral damage in the process. So that was a very appealing character for us, and being in the middle and the opposite side of that debate, whereas the other typical heroes might have to adhere to more traditional trope of, "Well, we need to bring the bad guy to justice" and so forth.
But Black Adam doesn't believe in that. He believes in what he thinks is right and wrong, and once he's made the decision to carry it out, what he feels is just, there's really no one on the planet that we've found yet that can stop him. So I think that character is interesting. While he still has a moral compass, there's a brutality to his moral compass that is fun for us to play with and feels fresh at that scale of power.
There's antiheroes in the hero world, but we've never seen an antihero at that power scale, because a Homelander is more full villain, and Deadpool, obviously, and Logan are antiheroes, but they're not flying around and so forth and can move a planet. Black Adam is a very unique figure to be that powerful and be on that side of the debate. So very appealing... It's one of the reasons why we've always wanted to do Black Adam, for many years.
Red Notice is now available to stream on Netflix, while Black Adam arrives in theaters July 29, 2022.