The franchise producer Fast and Furious, Neal Moritz, has just revealed that the future of the license could be very different. He suggests that after Fast and Furious 10the saga could go back to basics, and get closer to the atmosphere of the very first film. Fast and Furious could therefore return to a more intimate cinema, in any case less extravagant than in the latest productions to date.
Fast and Furious: the franchise of all excesses
In 2001, filmmaker Rob Cohen directs the very first episode of the saga Fast and Furious. Spectators discover an unprecedented action film, carried by a cast notably led by Vin Diesel, Paul Walker and Michelle Rodriguez. At the time, the feature film was a hit at the box office with more than $207 million in revenue for a budget of $38 million. Faced with this triumph, Universal Pictures feels that there is a vein to exploit.
The firm then launched into the production of a saga that had become emblematic. In all, 9 main films and a spin-off have been released. At the box office, the 10 films earned more than $6.6 billion in revenue. A mind-blowing score that makes Fast and Furious one of the most profitable franchises in the history of cinema. Fast and Furious 10still directed by Justin Lin, is expected on May 24, 2023 in theaters. The feature film could be a huge conclusion, before embarking on a revival of the saga.
A return to basics?
During a recent interview with the podcast The Town with Matthew Bellonithe license’s ancestral producer, Neal Moritz, said he would like to see the saga Fast and Furious back to basics. He explains that he would like the saga to become smaller again, more intimate, and less bombastic. He wants the spirit of the first films to return to the center of the plots:
Honestly, I think in the future I would actually like to go smaller again. And I kind of like to go back to where we started. I think that’s an interesting way to do it. I like to zigzag. I like trying to do something different and I think that’s what people are asking for these days.
It’s clear that between the first and the last Fast and Furious, there is not much in common (except the presence of Vin Diesel). The first installment was a street car race, with a detective plot where a cop tries to infiltrate the Fast family. Fast and Furious 9meanwhile, is closer to a Transformers, than the original episode. A return to basics is therefore not a silly approach. This could refocus the license on more intimate and more human-scale wanderings.