It’s 2001, and you have just witnessed the best car movie ever. Neon streetlights, glamorous cars, an eye-catching cast, and enough adrenaline-filled moments that you didn’t need to hit the NOS button to turn up the film. That’s what The Fast and the Furious brought to movie screens worldwide in 2001: a new taste and feel of what the street racing genre could bring to audiences.
24 years later with 10 films that involved saving the world, pulling off a heist for the US government, driving a car in space (yes really), and having Vin Diesel’s one word mantra of “family” either becoming someone’s whole personality or the inspiration for a Gen-Zer’s TikTok, the ‘Fast’ franchise has done just about all it’s could, right? Well, the executives at Universal seem to think so.
In a recent Wall Street Journal article, Universal is not sure that another Fast and Furious movie will be made unless there are significant budget cuts. It’s said that Universal wants a $200 million budget for the film that could turn an actual profit compared to the latest installment of the franchise that made $705 million worldwide from a budget of nearly $340 million.
Jun 30, 2021; Los Angeles, California, USA; Film actor Vin Diesel in attendance as the Los Angeles Clippers play against the Phoenix Suns in game six of the Western Conference Finals for the 2021 NBA Playoffs at Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports
To add on to all the speculation, the WSJ also reported that there’s no script that has been approved yet, no release date for the film, and members of the cast have not signed deals to return. Vin Diesel, the anchor of every single Fast and Furious film, stated that the franchise plans to have the next film back in Los Angeles and get back to the heart of the films, which is street racing culture. But is the move too little too late?
It’s coming to be an unfortunate end for a franchise that honestly has been a part of mainstream American pop culture for a legitimate two decades. For an original IP franchise, ‘Fast’ is easily considered a success, with the franchise hitting a fever pitch with Furious 7, making just under $1.9 billion at the global box office.
If the last installment of the franchise does or does not come to fruition, the franchise should serve as a litmus test for knowing when to call it a day. I understand milking the cow is just the way the world works, especially in business, but if it gets to the point where all signs are pointing to “over”, then it may indeed be time to wrap it up. With that said, I hope the franchise gets its last movie. I can’t say I will be watching it, but the $705 million worldwide number from the last film says there is still a sizeable fan base out there.
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‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.yahoo.com ’
