You should know about Seven Bucks Productions

After three years in development, one of the biggest blockbuster team-ups of the decade is about to hit theaters, and for now it’s an original.

“Red,” out November 15 on Amazon and MGM, appears to be a brand new holiday action movie if its marketing is anything to go by. It also features two huge movie stars: Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Chris Evans.

But when the film was announced back in 2021, Johnson described it as “a huge, fun and unique Red One holiday universe that families around the world can enjoy.”

So, what is the “Red” holiday universe? To answer this question, let me introduce you to one of the most insidious power grabs in Hollywood: a phenomenon I call the “vanity production company.”

Johnson’s main task, of course, is to act. But he is also the co-founder of the production company Seven Bucks Productions, which has influenced Johnson’s filmography since 2012. Everything from Jungle Cruise (2021) to Black Adam (2022) and the upcoming live-action film Moana. The remake is currently being overseen by Seven Bucks.

Seven Bucks Productions is just one of many such companies. From Ryan Reynolds’ Maximum Effort Productions to Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine, these companies primarily exist to give stars a creative stake in the projects they produce or to unite their films under one set of themes and values.

This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Margot Robbie’s LuckyChap Entertainment is a great example of a vanity company done right. Sure, they produce a lot of films starring Robbie, but her company instead defines itself as a commitment to films directed by women.

In particular, Robbie did not insist on playing the lead character in the LuckyChap-produced film Barbie (2023). That decision was made by director and co-writer Greta Gerwig, who ultimately cast her.

But not all of these companies are driven by an inclusive vision like the one Robbie has developed, and Seven Bucks Productions is perhaps the most obvious in its attempt to create films specifically for its star and his brand.

The most notorious manifestation of this priority was the DC superhero film Black Adam (2022), a star vehicle that Johnson spent the better part of a decade creating.

Johnson had high hopes for this previously niche DC character. He told the CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery to David Zaslav on DC’s multi-year franchise plan featuring him and Henry Cavill’s Superman. This was a good idea in theory, as DC was struggling with a new plan amid the numerous problems that were plaguing their film brand at the time.

But Johnson’s plan was a power grab that would give one actor complete control over the only potential competitor to the giant Marvel Cinematic Universe. Black Adam had a solid box office haul of nearly $400 million, but it wasn’t enough to complete the coup.

The Black Adam saga shows Johnson’s desire to take lucrative properties and, because of his fame, twist them for his own gain. That’s why Johnson’s apparent attempt to create a Christmas franchise before the film’s release is so off-putting.

YouTube video essayist Patrick H. Willems criticized this strange distinction in a video called “When Movie Stars Become Brands”:

“I’m sorry, Dwayne, but you can’t just say that the original movie is also a franchise movie—franchises don’t work,” Willems said.

A franchise isn’t necessarily a bad thing, and Dwayne Johnson has been a crowd-pleasing entertainment powerhouse for decades now. But long and beloved sagas are born in the cinema, not in the boardroom. In other words: if there are no fans, there is no franchise.

“Red” could be the next favorite Christmas movie and start a series of fun adventures, but it has to earn that award. Seven Bucks Productions is trying to skip a few steps and create a Star Wars Christmas in advance.

If the film is good, this discussion may not matter. But if that’s not the case, we all owe it to ourselves to see something with more genuine passion – that way, moviegoers can rest assured that their box office dollars won’t be wasted on Red 2.

Sammy Bovitz is a sophomore writing about the film business. His column “Boardrooms and Blockbusters” takes place every second Thursday.