Fast and Furious Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Whatever you may think of Vin Diesel as an actor, you have to admire his dedication to his franchises. I mean, who else but Diesel would hang in for another round of extreme adventure sports and espionage? About a year ago we got the news that Diesel was reuniting with Rob Cohen for another installment of the xXx franchise, but according to The Hollywood Reporter there has been a small personnel change, and now Ericson Core (Invincible) will be stepping in to direct since Cohen is off to work on his period actioner Medieval.

Diesel likes to be in control of his franchises and xXx was no exception. Apparently, the muscly actor had to give Core his blessing before the DP/ Director could get to work, although I'm sure their previous working relationship on Fast and Furious probably helped. According to reports, the film will be called xXx: The Return of Xander Cage, and focus on Cage's return to the 'agency' after an eight-year absence. Now, if you remember, Cage was reported as dead in the second film, but Richard Wilkes (who wrote the original movie) will have to think of something, I guess.

Now I'll admit that I've seen both xXx films (I even went to the theater for the first one) and other than a marginally clever joke about the 'death of Bond' and some truly craptastic dialog, I don't remember much about it (and when it comes to Ice Cube's installment in the franchise, I think I'd probably be better off if I didn't remember that one, too). So I guess on the upside we can take solace in the fact the latest installment couldn't be worse than last time, or can it?

xXx: The Return of Xander Cage begins shooting early next year.

It's a dispiriting exercise to think about movie franchises that have been run into the ground. For years now, big Hollywood studios have focused on developing and cultivating franchise properties with worldwide appeal that are dependent more on iconic characters than the actors who play them.

When it works, it's fabulous (Star Trek). When it doesn't, it's awful (Fast & Furious). Even worse than the total misfires, though, are the movies that drag down a franchise into mediocrity, yet still make enough money to justify a sequel from a financial standpoint (X-Men Origins: Wolverine). Box office disasters don't necessarily discourage further installments, but often force a studio to rethink the property (Superman Returns). But good box office earnings despite negative reactions tend to empower executives and filmmakers, who then feel they can safely ignore the warning signs and make another sequel without really considering what could be done to improve the product film.

After two fabulous movies, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines "revived" the franchise, but was barely average as an action picture. The new producers of Terminator: Salvation tried to make it their own by bringing in a new director, new stars, and a new storyline, but the results were disappointing in every way but the bottom line. With total worldwide earnings of $341 million, however, Terminator 5 is on its way, and director McG is talking again about what he wants to do. As for me, I say it's time we kill off the franchises that have become mediocre. Let them lay fallow for a few years or decades. Which franchise would you most like to see put out of its misery? Take our poll and let us know!

With that headline, you're free to make any number of assumptions as what, exactly, filmmaker George Lucas was wrong about. Was he wrong to make the Ewoks cute and furry? Was he wrong to tweak the sacred Original Trilogy into pristine beauty? Was he wrong about Jar Jar Binks? Was he wrong about Indiana Jones? I could go on and on, but Vanity Fair writer Julian Sancton narrows it down to one thing, claiming that Lucas was wrong about ... (drum roll, please) ... the future of movies.

VF points to the "startling predictions" he made two and a half years ago "that the age of the blockbuster was over; that 'the secret to the future' was a large quantity of small, web-distributed movies; and that the habit of moviegoing would be a thing of the past." (See Cinematical's story from three years ago with similar Lucas predictions.) VF says that the crazy opening of Fast & Furious proves that "people are still thirsting for relatively cheap entertainment, and that big-budget, mindless, good-bad movies are a welcome distraction from the general glumness."

VF offers their own prophecies: fewer "middle-range" movies (budgeted between $25 - $100 million); more people investing in movies; plummeting DVD sales; and more frequent record-setting opening weekends. Frankly, those sound boring compared to Lucas' predictions, so let's go back to his ideas.

Was George Lucas wrong? Do you even care how much movies cost to produce? Or are you more concerned about the price of a ticket? For those of you who are regular (every week or two) moviegoers: Will you go see any big, dumb movie just to distract you from other problems? For less frequent moviegoers: Are you staying home because it's more convenient, or because the quality of movies has gone down?

I'd like to hear from a few of the people who contributed to Fast & Furious's staggering $71 million gross over the weekend. Why did you go? What were you expecting, and did you get it?

See, I'm not in the camp of critics who detest this film and this franchise. But I also think that it cannot possibly be taken at face value. Fast & Furious, with its story of a daredevil FBI agent/street racer who has to go undercover to bust up a drug smuggler who regularly holds elaborate street races on the streets of Los Angeles, complete with hordes of women who are gyrating constantly, doesn't just strain credulity, it rips credulity apart with its teeth. It exists to be laughed at. And as such, it sort of works -- I spent most of the movie chuckling merrily under my breath. Fast & Furious is a constant parody of itself, and I am sure that Justin Lin -- an intelligent, skilled filmmaker -- knows that.

But that alone won't get you to $71 million. The most obvious possibility is that people went for the cars and scantily-clad females, in which case I wonder what they made of the film's sagging midsection, which contains more absurd macho brooding than anything else. (I also wonder where they were for the underperforming Tokyo Drift, which I'd suggest was more entertaining in this respect.) The fact that the franchise's box-office resurgence coincides with the return of Vin Diesel and Paul Walker also suggests, disturbingly, that some folks actually see this as the compelling saga of Dom Torreto and Brian O'Conner, as if those were actual characters. "Nothing matters unless you have a code," etc. Will anyone fess up to that? (Not that I am judging you. Well, maybe a little.)

While I still try to process the fact that Fast and Furious took home over $70 freakin' million at the box office this weekend (really? You all still dig Vin Diesel that much?), Saturday Night Live came through with a pretty funny sketch featuring Seth Rogen and Andy Samberg doing their best fast and furious imitations for a new film called The Fast and Bi-Curious. Their angle, in case you haven't figured it out yet, was to go the bromance route ... and then some ... and then some more. As one commenter on the SNL site pointed out, this ain't Fast and Furious ... it's more like Hot and Hilarious. Zing! Oh, and am I the only one who wonders whether these guys overdose on breath mints before performing this scene? Check it out below ...

The first weekend take for Fast & Furious, a staggering $72 million, beats the entire domestic gross of its series predecessor, The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift by $10 million dollars? It is also far and away the year's best opening, though that will likely change come May.

How did this happen? Bringing back Vin Diesel and Paul Walker as part of the "series reboot" helped. The hip new advertising campaign that focused heavily on the car chase action probably succeeded in making the franchise seem less "cheesy" this time around. (The Tokyo Drift subtitle, which turned out to have great traction (ZING!) as a running joke, didn't help the beleaguered third film.) Having seen the movie, that seems a little silly, since it's probably even more hilarious than its predecessors (and never has the description of Vin Diesel as an "angry potato" been more apt). But here we are, and a fifth entry in the series is all but assured.

A sad casualty of the weekend, apart from our collective intelligence, is the lovely Adventureland, which debuted to a disappointing $6 million. I think Miramax was jamming a square peg into a round hole by attempting to market Greg Mottola's film as another Superbad, which it decidedly is not, but I don't really know. It had a great concept but no stars among its lovely cast, so I guess it wasn't the easiest sell.

Monsters vs. Aliens is headed for a not-great $150-160 million finish. I Love You, Man, on the other hand, looks like it'll beat both Jason Segel's Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Paul Rudd's Role Models. Sunshine Cleaning expanded this weekend and snuck into the top 10, with Overture trying hard to platform its way to a sleeper hit. It may have a minor one.

The full top 10 after the jump.

Most big-studio films have promotional screenings in all the major U.S. markets a few days before they open, with free passes handed out by local radio stations and a couple rows of seats taped off for the movie critics. At many of these screenings, there are "prizes" to be given away, by which I mean worthless crap like posters or cheap T-shirts with the film's logo. It doesn't matter how little value a thing has, though. If it's being given away for free, the people who attend these screenings regularly WANT IT. They will squabble with their fellow prize pigs to get it, and become sullen if they come away empty-handed.

"We don't just want a free movie!" they seem to say. "We want free merchandise to go with it! What a gyp! Also, we want to sit in the press row, even though there are plenty of other open seats and the press row has been clearly labeled and we know we are not press! WE ARE ENTITLED TO EVERYTHING!!"

Ahem. But sometimes, they have enough free crap for everyone to get some. This was the case at last night's Fast & Furious screening here in Portland (and presumably in some of the other markets, too), but the specific promotional items they chose are a little baffling. First, there were little boxes of Red Hots -- you know, the hard cinnamon candy? -- in special Fast & Furious packaging. Second, there were flying disks (not Frisbees, because that's a trademark for a specific manufacturer of flying disks) with the logo, tagline, and website.

Dreamworks managed to pull in the biggest opening weekend of the year with their animated science fiction comedy Monsters vs. Aliens. Hardcore horror fans may not care for PG-13 rated scare flicks, but based on The Haunting in Connecticut's respectable second place showing, the general public doesn't seem to mind. 12 Rounds, the action flick starring wrestler turned actor John Cena, came in seventh with $5.3 million. Here's the top five:

1. Monsters Vs. Aliens: $59.3 million
2. The Haunting in Connecticut: $23 million
3. Knowing: $14.7 million
4. I Love You, Man: $12.6 million
5. Duplicity: $7.7 million

Two new releases this week pitting laughs against thrills:

Adventureland
What's It All About: An uptight college graduate learns that his parents have decided not to pay for his trip to Europe after all, and so he must take a summer job in a run down amusement park.
Why It Might Do Well: If the 90% fresh rating at Rottentomatoes.com isn't enough, director Greg Mottola was also behind Superbad, which had a $33 million opening weekend and $121 million domestic total.
Why It Might Not Do Well: For the sheer number of screens, Fast and Furious has a distinct advantage.
Number of Theaters: 1,800
Prediction: $12 million

Fast and Furious
What's It All About: Once again Vin Diesel is getting quick and cranky as he returns to the franchise he helped launch with 2001's The Fast and the Furious.
Why It Might Do Well: The original film had a $40 million opening weekend and $144 million domestic gross.
Why It Might Not Do Well: As of this writing Rottentomatoes.com is listing only nine reviews, but they combine to give this film 0%. Yikes!
Number of Theaters: 3,400
Prediction: $44 million

Tomorrow's much-anticipated Superbowl movie trailers are beginning to arrive online, with G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra and Race to Witch Mountain landing earlier today (and yesterday), and now we have new previews for Year One, Land of the Lost and Pixar's Up. First we have Year One, which I don't believe is a Superbowl spot because it's over two minutes long -- but it's definitely our first look at the flick, which stars Jack Black and Michael Cera as a couple of moronic hunter/gatherer's living during biblical times. Watch as both Black and Cera stumble across two legendary feuding brothers, played by David Cross and Paul Rudd. Produced by Judd Apatow, and directed by Harold Ramis, Year One hits theaters on June 19.



And the actual 60-second spot is here

Next we have Land of the Lost, starring Will Ferrell, Danny McBride and Anna Friel. Based on the classic TV show, Ferrell plays a scientist who's sucked back through time and into some alternate universe where all sorts of funky creatures reside. Personally, I think this one looks real fun -- c'mon, Ferrell and McBride together on screen can only produce awesomeness times twelve. It's in the rule book! Land of the Lost hits theaters on June 5.

Say what you will, but The Fast and Furious franchise has always been a guilty pleasure for gear-heads and novices alike -- just don't look too close for things like character development, or, say, a plot...because by now we all know these movies are about watching shiny things motor at the speed of light. If you don't believe me, go take a look at the new theatrical trailer for the latest installment over at Yahoo! Movies, because it's chock full of all the engine revving and glowering from the driver side window you have come to expect from any film starring Vin Diesel behind the wheel of a 68 Dodge Charger.

The whole cast from the original flick is back this time around, as Dominic Toretto (Diesel) and Brian O'Connor (Paul Walker) reunite to take on a common enemy with the oh-so-delightfully tacky name of Rico (Don Omar). Michelle Rodriguez and Jordana Brewster return to play the two women in Toretto's life (his girlfriend and little sister respectively), but let's be honest, these gals are just window dressing to the action at hand.

The latest installment was directed by Justin Lin, who is usually credited with making the better sequel (Tokyo Drift) in the franchise, so it's probably for the best that he took the driver's seat this time around. Furious will be premiering a new trailer during the Superbowl (a coveted time slot to say the least), so it looks like Universal has pretty big expectations for the action flick. One thing is for sure, these movies might not be winning Oscars any time soon, but as long as they give me a few more tricks like this; you can count me in.

Fast & Furious will arrive in theaters on April 3rd.