The shooting on the campus of Columbine High School, which caused a national sensation, occurred on April 20, 1999.
At that time, director Rob Cohen, who became famous through the disaster film “Daylight”, was preparing for his next film.
The little-known screenwriter Gary Scott Thompson helped him figure out the story. A few years ago, James Cameron used the “Sea version of Romeo and Juliet” to persuade Fox Pictures to start filming “Titanic” and achieved great success. Thompson came up with the “racing version of Romeo and Juliet” in an attempt to impress the world. Film industry.
The plan was originally approved by the senior executives of the world, but the shooting on the campus of Columbine Middle School changed everything.
The Main Creative Change
Because the protagonist is a group of underground riders, even if they are anti-heroes, they cannot hide their subtle identities. Considering the influence of public opinion brought about by the shooting, Universal feared that praise of such a group of people who didn’t work well and engaged in illegal racing every day would arouse criticism, so Rob Cohen’s project was suspended again.
Fortunately, Thompson did not give up. He modified the character setting of a protagonist, which was later played by Paul Walker, the policeman Bryan. Brian is the original Romeo, he fell in love with Mia, the sister of another racer.
So there is no doubt that Paul, who loves racing in reality, is a soul man from the beginning. With the addition of a policeman, the story has positive energy, and Universal’s worries are eliminated. Moreover, as an undercover Brian, faced with the struggle between professional identity and brothers and love, he is no less attractive than the original pure anti-hero story. What hasn’t changed is that Brian has retained his original rebellious personality and has become a not-so-rule ruffian policeman, which is indeed very suitable as an undercover agent.
As a result, Universal got a police film with racing elements as the main elements, that is, “Fast and Furious”. The cost of 38 million U.S. dollars was exchanged for more than 200 million box offices worldwide. The speed and passion belonging to young audiences was instantly ignited.
In addition, the sales of discs are also very good, and Universal wants to develop a sequel. Like many sequel movies, “Fast and Furious 2” encountered the problem of changes in the main creative. The director changed from Rob Cohen to John Singleton. What’s more tricky is that the first protagonist Van Diesel refused to perform.
Van Diesel, who is now the big brother of the series, was a talented man. He made his debut through his own filming, and he was also appreciated by the great director Spielberg. In 1998, “Saving Private Ryan”, you can see him appear as a supporting role. When starring in “Fast and Furious”, he was more famous than Paul Walker. The 2000 science fiction film “Pitch Black” made him popular. With the success of “Fast and Furious”, he can be said to have increased the fire, so that the sequel Universal offered him Hollywood’s top salary.
However, Van Diesel at that time was a man of integrity, and his selection of scripts was stricter. This was a major reason for his rapid rise in his early years. He was not satisfied with Thompson’s sequel script, so he turned his head and found another way out with Rob Cohen and filmed “xXx” together.
The loss of the two backbones did not make Universal lose confidence in “Fast and Furious 2”, and the cost was still given a high of 76 million.
Thompson’s script is not particularly good, but his character creation is top-notch. Roman and Taiji, who joined in the sequel, have become permanent characters in the future, with clear positioning. Only compared to the previous work, “Fast and Furious 2” is indeed an ordinary sequel, basically relying on the original fan base to support the box office. Fortunately, the global score of 236 million is barely enough to make a profit, and the series has the motivation to continue to develop.
The weakness of “Fast and Furious 2” made Universal begin to seek change. The third film added more fresh blood, and at the same time it completely turned into a derivative movie.
The screenwriter was replaced by Thompson by Chris Morgan. He put a brand new story in Tokyo, and an Asian director named Lin Yibin was pulled in. What’s interesting is that Lin Yibin, like Rob Cohen, made movies about Bruce Lee in his early years. The two new creators worked very hard, and thanks to their serious attitude, “Fast and Furious 3” did not become a redundant work.
But after all, starring in a big change, and without a new big name, “Fast and Furious 3” inevitably set a new box office record for the series, with only 159 million in the world. Fortunately, the cost is not high. According to Chris Morgan, the initial budget was only 10 million, and in the end it was about 50 million.
Both Lin Yibin and Chris Morgan wanted to continue. Seeing the vitality of the two newcomers, Universal decided to give the green light to the fourth part of the series.
They officially took over the scepter of the “Fast and Furious” series, and the real challenge has just begun.
Heaven and Hell
Chris Morgan has thought out the key foreshadowings and plots for several subsequent movies.
The death and resurrection of the two characters spanned as many as five movies. Such a conception was very bold when there was no concept of the cinematic universe at that time. Who can guarantee that these ideas can be realized? Maybe one of them failed miserably at the box office, and there would be no such thing. This means that for every movie after that, they must try their best. This may be one of the reasons why this series is bigger than one. Another reason is that, starting from the fourth part, the box office showed signs of recovery.
“Fast and Furious 4”, Van Diesel, Paul Walker and other main members have all returned, and the cost has risen to 85 million, which is completely the standard of an A-level blockbuster. In the end, 360 million box office also refreshed the highest in the series, and the rate of return was comparable to the first one. The only shortcoming was that the word of mouth did not get a qualitative improvement.
But for the host Universal, this is enough to give Lin Yibin the green light for the fifth installment. The cost of 125 million is an opportunity as well as a pressure. The same is only allowed to succeed but not to fail. Producer Neil H. Moretz, who has persisted all the way from the first film, succeeded Gary Scott Thompson’s screenwriter Chris Morgan, and Lin Yibin, the only one to direct this series continuously, they all know, The quality of “Fast and Furious 5” must be further improved, and the more popular scenes must be firmly tied to the theme.
Moritz successfully configured a luxurious lineup for the film and realized a premeditated idea. The three original members of Paul Walker, Van Diesel, and Jordana Brewster remain enthusiastic, as well as the long-lost return of Matt Schalz in the first part; Tyrese Gibson and Luda in the second Chris, one is responsible for funny, one is responsible for technology, and Eva Mendes’ return cameo; the fourth newly-joined Gal Gadot, who has risen to the role of beauty; plus the newly joined police camp , Dawn Johnson and Elsa Partage who play two important roles respectively. The previous old works are therefore all connected, it depends on how the director plays.
After training in the two films, Lin Yibin is more proficient in the scheduling of big scenes, and he can already innovate on a solid basis.
More ambitious, exciting and bursting action scenes, with the climax of the bank safe car chase that can be included in the annals of action movies, and even watching the behind-the-scenes highlights without looking at the modified feature film, can make the adrenaline soar. This time it is true that TM defines what “fast and passion” is. Chris Morgan successfully sublimated the whole story.
In the fourth part, he lost an important member of the protagonist group, and the drag racing family reached its lowest period. The so-called true love in adversity, unprecedented difficulties, make the bond of several protagonists closer. Bryan completely gave up his status as a police officer, and finally made it back to the illegal driver position he preset at the beginning. For him, this is a road of no return; Mia is pregnant, and if she is careless, she will regret it for life; As the boss, Toledo has experienced a tragic failure, and he can no longer accept the loss of any family members.
A character with no retreat can always perform miracles. In a more grand story, everyone fought desperately, and a powerful spiritual force defeated indestructible obstacles. Not only won a hundred million yuan from the desperate situation, but also a brand-new big family. This is enough to make the audience very moved.
It provides the ultimate enjoyment in the spirit of seeing and hearing, and “Fast and Furious 5” has made a big leap in word of mouth.
With a global box office of 626 million, it broke into the top ten of the global box office list. Unknowingly, the total box office of the entire series has reached more than 1.5 billion US dollars, and it has become one of the few signature series of Universal Pictures.
I started filming “Fast and Furious 6” while the iron was hot. The higher cost and higher box office made the slightly lowered quality harmless.
The big scene of the bigger battle became the most eye-catching part. Using a car to flip a tank refreshed the imagination of the racing theme. Even strictly speaking, this is no longer a pure racing car.
The infinite vitality brought by the two core creators of Lin Yibin and Chris Morgan is the key to the complete activation of the “Fast and Furious” series. Like Marvel’s Kevin Fitch and DC’s Zach Schneider, they are full of enthusiasm for their stories and boldly conceived grand blueprints. After “Fast and Furious 6” established the status of super IP, all the initial ideas were basically realized. “Fast and Furious 7”, what happened in the third part is explained. It turned out that the time of the third part occurred after the sixth part, and the entire series has a mature timeline.
Just when the drag racing family reached a new peak, bad news followed one after another. The first is Lin Yibin’s withdrawal.
Universal hopes to release the next sequel as soon as possible. The original plan was to shoot the sixth and seventh parts back-to-back. But after becoming famous, Lin Yibin began to take over other projects. When making “Fast and Furious 6”, he started the production of the American drama “Scorpion”. Time is too tight, and he has to choose to temporarily withdraw from his most beloved movie series. Then came the unexpected death of Paul Walker. On November 30, 2013, Paul, who was only 40 years old, passed away in a car accident, causing grief to countless people. What’s more terrible is that his part in “Fast and Furious 7” has not yet been filmed. Universal was forced to announce the suspension of shooting. This super IP, which was in the midst of the sky, fell from heaven to hell all at once.
Change Fate
From the third part of the downhill to the fifth part of the peak, “Quick” IP staged a good show of changing their lives against the sky, breaking the curse that the series of movies are getting worse and worse. The quality of the sixth part has declined slightly, and the seventh part encountered such a dilemma. At that time, many people must have felt that this IP was finally going to be unsustainable.
Wen Ziren, who took over the guide tube, had been good at horror films before that, and had never tried a big popcorn production. Some people even suspect that his taking over will result in a change in the style of “Fast and Furious 7” compared to the previous one. It is hard to say whether it is good or bad. If “Aquaman” was released four years earlier, such worries would cease to exist. Facts have proved that Wen Ziren is an absolutely talented director. Commercial popcorn is a hit when he gets started.
What satisfied the audience was not only Wen Ziren’s assurance of the continuation of the style and the increase of the overall quality. He was once again invincible for the spectacle and imagination of the car, but also the way he paid tribute to Paul Walker’s role in the play. Of course, this should not be the credit of Wen Ziren alone. Paul and Brian said goodbye in a warm and touching way, earning enough tears from the audience. I really don’t know how they did it. Obviously it was two bad news, but it became two boosters for the 1.5 billion box office worldwide.
To tell the truth, Lin Yibin continues to direct, he may not have the new fireworks of Wen Ziren; if it weren’t for Paul’s death, which triggered a huge wave of movie watching, the box office would not have exploded to such a degree and would rank in the world. In the first three of the year, the “Avengers 2” that overwhelmed Marvel Pictures.
Maybe that’s not right, but Paul did use his life to push the “quick” IP to today’s heights. He dedicated all the golden years of his acting career. Without Paul, Van Diesel has become a new soul figure.
The situation of “Fast and Furious 8” is very similar to that of the sixth one. After the peak of the previous one, there will inevitably be a slippery slope. To make matters worse, this time the box office and word of mouth fell together.
The audience was puzzled by the whitewashing of the role of Jason Statham, and felt helpless at the drama that became more and more detached from reality. Van Diesel also had friction with the soaring popularity of Dawn Johnson, and the crisis once again appeared like an unexpected guest. Can you still change your fate?
Different From The Past.
This is the age of the cinematic universe, not to mention that Paul Walker, the true soul man, cannot return.
Universal quickly came up with a solution to the immediate problem, that is, to shoot the rumored movie “Fast and Furious: Special Operations”. The two tigers, Dawn Johnson and Van Diesel, each occupy a hill, and they will not violate each other temporarily. , While adapting to changes in the new era.
“Fast and Furious 9”, Universal found Lin Yibin. Perhaps Lin Yibin could no longer surpass himself, but getting him back was the most stable choice.
At least, without Paul, the core and style of the series can be maintained as much as possible. It is basically certain that “Fast and Furious 9” is still unable to change fate. But what about the legendary “last” “Fast and Furious 10”?
No one knows whether such a tenacious IP will burst out with earth-shattering energy and create another round of miracles. If so, don’t be surprised. Because “Quick Excitation” has that kind of housekeeping skills.
