'Fast and the Furious' movie series: Are prequels or spin-offs on the way?
Are spin-offs or prequels in the 鈥淔ast and the Furious鈥� film series on their way?聽
Seven movies in the 鈥淔ast鈥� series have been released and now those behind the movies are reportedly looking at ways to continue the film series 鈥� no surprise, considering 鈥淔urious 7鈥� is one of the highest-grossing movies of the year so far.
Donna Langley, chairman of 鈥淔ast鈥� studio Universal Pictures, said they鈥檙e considering different strategies.
鈥淲e鈥檙e certainly in conversations about how we can expand the franchise now,鈥� Langley said . 鈥淚t鈥檚 an ensemble cast and there鈥檚 room to bring characters in and out.鈥�
Meanwhile, series star Vin Diesel , 鈥淲e鈥檝e written out story lines for various characters. We鈥檝e been playing with it for a long time. It鈥檚 a very rich property and we鈥檙e committed to treating it with a lot of class.鈥澛�
The first 鈥淔ast鈥� movie was released in 2001 and stars Paul Walker as Brian O鈥機onnor, an undercover member of the police force who becomes a member of a drag-racing group that also commits crimes. The group is led by Dominic Toretto (Diesel) and also includes his girlfriend Letty (Michelle Rodriguez).聽
鈥淔ast鈥� became a big, fairly unexpected hit and has been followed by several sequels, with actors like Dwayne Johnson joining up along the way. While some movie series begin to show diminishing returns, last spring鈥檚 鈥淔urious 7鈥� became the highest-grossing film in the franchise.
With an unexpected hit series on their hands, if Universal does decide to explore prequel and spin-off films, the studio will be fitting the series to the current popular thinking in Hollywood. Marvel Studios, which releases superhero movies, has shown the advantage of thinking beyond the sequel route. While Marvel also releases direct sequels to their films, they also release 鈥渟pin-off鈥� movies, which can introduce new people or give side characters a chance to shine and usually set up other films.聽
The 鈥淪tar Wars鈥� movie series will also be embracing this model, with the movie 鈥淩ogue One,鈥� which will take place in the 鈥淪tar Wars鈥� universe but not center on familiar characters like Luke Skywalker or Princess Leia, set to be released in 2016.聽
Those behind the 鈥淗arry Potter鈥� film series are following this line of thinking, too 鈥� rather than film a new story with Harry and the gang, a movie with an all-new character, Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne), will be released. Newt鈥檚 story 鈥淔antastic Beasts and Where to Find Them鈥� will come to theaters in 2016 as well.
These are some of the most successful movie series in Hollywood, so it鈥檚 no surprise Universal is looking to follow their lead with their already-lucrative franchise. It will be unexpected at this point if those at Universal decide against exploring more of the world of 鈥淔ast.鈥�
