Vin Diesel walked away from the Fast And The Furious franchise, and xXx, because he thought it was beneath him. Then, after a harsh lesson in reality from the box office, he came back and made it all about him. The franchise then went stratospheric and pulled in over $7 billion at the box office.
None of this was to do with anything more than the simplistic, easily digestible, good vs. evil plots with the added power of “car” and “fambly”. You feel a bit dirty for watching them, suspecting that they are the kind of movie that others watch while finger painting, but you are damned entertained. Afterwards, you feel used, like after a one-night stand with the easiest girl in town.
The recipe was fixed, and all seemed well. Until it wasn’t. The last instalment was one of the most expensive movies ever made but, against the backdrop of post-COVID recovery and changed viewing habits, it didn’t hit its hurdle rate with the studio.
That didn’t stop Vin Diesel from claiming, at Fuel Fest recently, that Fast XI was imminent. Some suggested otherwise, but he was sticking to his guns.
It turns out the next instalment is even further away than we thought. Universal Pictures is reportedly unsure about even making it. A report in The Wall Street Journal says there’s no approved script, no release date, vast swathes of the talent are yet to sign their deals, and there are no plans to move forward unless the costs are significantly reduced.
Universal executives have reportedly told the producers that the next instalment has to come in under $200 million. So now we know why they were talking about a stripped back finale, returning the franchise to its LA street racing roots. They can’t afford anything else.
In yet another sign that Outposters are way ahead of the curve, the article even repeats what everyone here has been saying in the Disqus for months, that $1 billion grosses are dead and in the new reality $700 million is the new big target.
