Here’s Why the Fast and Furious Will Likely Never go Back to Street Racing
Long story short: Money.
In 2001, we saw the original release of the first film of the Fast and Furious franchise. In the movie, the cars were arguably the biggest draw as nobody really knew who any of the actors were. Years later, we would see a paradigm shift as the franchise has slowly but surely depleted any traces of racing. It’s tossed in here and there for good measure but is largely left out of the main plot.
It turns out that Universal Studios is in the business of making money. As one might imagine, it doesn’t really seem like artistic integrity is at the forefront of their minds. With the billions of dollars that the franchise has roped in over the years, we can’t really even say that we blame them.
Analytics Are Driving the Story
As the series went on, the crew behind it would figure out different things that the audience liked. Essentially, what we see on screen today is these things being plugged in. Sure, the franchise might not have much of a deep plot. It might draw in audiences based on high-end cars, explosions, and cheesy one-liners. At the end of the day, though, that seems to be what the data says is successful. While most of us can admit that these factors exist, I know I speak for more than myself when I say that the movie really provides an escape to a guilty pleasure almost every summer.
These days, essentially, car driving ability would become part of the movie but street racing took a back seat. In fact, the host of the video below, Craig Lieberman, even points out that street racing would add a “ceiling” to the franchise. Instead, the spy genre feel seems to be what keeps the fans coming. Universal seems to believe that staying stagnant in one genre would be a death sentence for the franchise.
Is it Even a Car Movie Anymore?
Lieberman says that the idea is that they’re still technically car movies as long as they show off crazy cars. At the end of the day, that idea is pretty much spot on. How many other franchises are going to integrate the quality of cars into the plot that the Fast and Furious franchise has?
Lieberman, however, is hoping that maybe one day, the franchise will find a way back to its roots. He even has created a petition to submit to Universal so that maybe one day, we can see some street racing again. Unfortunately, the petition hasn’t gotten nearly enough attention yet to justify presenting it to the studio.
While many of us yearn for the themes of old, it looks like their days may very well be expired here. – Craig Lieberman