The Screen Addict | Fast X

I will forever admire Vin Diesel for picking a fight with Universal and leveraging the rights to the Riddick franchise against a cameo appearance in The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006).

Neither Pitch Black (2000) nor its sequels The Chronicles of Riddick (2004) and Riddick (2013) are considered huge box-office triumphs – which is probably why Universal parted with the rights without putting up much of a fight – but Diesel remains undeterred in his quest to make the franchise a hit. There’s even a fourth film on the horizon – Riddick: Furya is already in production, according to IMDb.

PB and its sequels may not (yet) be the cash cows Diesel hoped them to be, TFatF:TD on the other hand was successful enough to convince Universal that Diesel should have significant creative control over the F&F franchise as well. That is why his company One Race Films has been one of the main producers since the fourth film.

It seems Diesel made out like a bandit from that one faithful deal with Universal, as we are now entering the tenth(!) chapter of the Fast Saga.

I saw Fast X (2023) yesterday – yes, fashionably late – and was not surprised to find myself thoroughly entertained again.

The cast list of these films gets more spectacular with every installment – as does the token baddie. If the F&F films taught us one thing, it’s that there’s always a son / brother / sister / second cousin etc. who wants revenge!

This time, it’s Jason Momoa’s turn to be Villain of the Week. A role he takes on with plenty of androgynous gusto. And who knows? Momoa might return as one of the heroes down the road, considering the track record of other bad guys in this series…

After Rob Cohen, John Singleton, Justin Lin, James Wan and F. Gary Gray, Louis Leterrier feels like the logical choice to take the reins on F&F. I’ve liked Leterrier ever since he helped kickstart Jason Statham’s career with The Transporter (2002) and Transporter 2 (2005). His experience with the vehicular carnage on this franchise must have come in quite handy for Fast X – not to mention the established relationship with Statham.

Nobody knows exactly how many F&F films are in our future. Fast X was split into two parts and will be concluded in 2025. Provided the box office is adequate, the franchise could go anywhere from there.

Whatever the outcome though, I’m pretty sure Diesel will be front and center as lead actor and producer. Interestingly, F&F and Riddick aren’t the only franchises Diesel will be shepherding for the foreseeable future. A quick glance at his IMDb page learns that his company is working on Miami Vice, Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots, and… Kojak.

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Twitter (X): Robin Logjes | The Screen Addict