Writer-producer Chris Morgan was on the set of Hobbs & Shaw when Dwayne Johnson’s right-hand man, Hiram Garcia, started sharing his idea for Red One. They were shooting the Fast & Furious spinoff’s complicated car and helicopter chase near a cliff in ​​Kauai and, with red dirt flying everywhere, Morgan admits he could only pay so much attention to the premise at the time. But that evening, Garcia, who’s the president of Johnson’s Seven Bucks production company, persisted, opting to pitch the action-comedy’s overall plot involving Santa’s (J.K. Simmons) abduction and his head of security (Johnson) having to team up with a complicit rogue (Chris Evans) to recover him.

“I was prepared not to, but I really, really loved it. I was like, ‘I actually think you have a hopeful message that’s really cool and that the world could use.’ So we agreed to...