We suppose it’s better than “The Pacifier 2.”
We do admire Vin Diesel for exerting a level of control over his career by strapping himself in as a producer on his films. He made a name for himself by writing and directing his own films, and he’s a big-time “Dungeons And Dragons” devotee, so he’s nothing if not a creative spirit. Lately, however, it just looks like he’s using that position to give himself jobs.
In an interview with Collider, superproducer Neal Moritz revealed that he and Diesel, who collaborated as producers on the upcoming “Fast Five,” are considering yet another go-round on wheels. “In Vin and my mind we already know what the sixth movie is, we’ve already been talking about it,” Moritz says. “Vin and I have had numerous conversations about what that might be. And we’re starting to get serious about it right now. We just finished the movie like four or five weeks ago and we just needed a break, and now we’re gonna start focusing on that.” Pity the poor intern who has to come up with a workable title. “Fastest. Furiosity.” Something like that.
That would be movie number six in the series, and the fifth to feature Diesel, who was once bigger than the franchise after turning down a $20 million paycheck for the second film. Stardom wasn’t working out for Diesel and he recognized it quickly, making peace with Universal enough to cameo in “The Fast And The Furious: Tokyo Drift“, a friendly arrangement that led to his starring and producing role in the fourth film.
“Fast And Furious” ended up becoming his biggest film at $353 million worldwide, so Diesel’s made the best choice for a franchise from a business perspective. His other offers as of late include “XxX: The Return of Xander Cage,” which seems stillborn at the conceptual stage, and a third film in the “Riddick” series following “The Chronicles Of Riddick,” one of the biggest financial failures in Universal Pictures history.
Moritz also mentions a possible spinoff film for the character played by Dwayne Johnson in “Fast Five.” Johnson mentioned this in an interview a couple of months ago and we didn’t think much of it, but Moritz has confirmed that the germ of an idea is alive, discussing a script by saying, “No we have not started, but we are about to.” We’re hesitant about seven “Fast And Furious” movies, but a standalone franchise with Johnson as a take-no-prisoners federal marshal seems like the sort of thing he was meant to do all along, as long as someone could pair him with a capable writer and director. The phrase “Dwayne Johnson Is… John McTiernan‘s… Shit-Kicker” just keeps bouncing around in our head.
