Universal Head Donna Langley Has One Regret About The Fast And Furious Franchise
It may seem hard to believe now, but there was a time where the "Fast & Furious" franchise was relatively grounded. 2001's "The Fast and the Furious," the film that started it all, was a pretty fun early 2000s riff on "Point Break" that switched out surfing culture with underground street racing. Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) and his crew weren't executing bank heists so much as hijacking truckloads of Panasonic DVD players. Over two decades later, though, the property is far removed from its humble beginnings. No longer outlaws, Dom and his family are now full-blown international spies who seem to keep drawing the attention of increasingly over the top villains. 2023's "Fast X" even sees Dom making a narrow escape by driving his Nos-infused Dodge Charger down the Hoover Dam.
It just makes you wonder what kind of outlandish scenario this franchise can thrust its characters into next, especially since the Toretto clan has already been to outer space. In 2021's "F9: The Fast Saga," Roman Pearce (Tyrese Gibson) and Tej Parker (Ludacris) drive a rocket-powered Pontiac Fiero into a satellite in order to neutralize a parasitic weapons program. They're even rescued by the folks aboard the International Space Station, who mistake the bickering pair for Minions in their homemade space suits. After years of jokes concerning whether or not these movies would actually go to space, the ninth mainline entry just up and did it. It's considered yet another milestone in this property's legacy, with some folks seeing it as a step too far.
As for Universal Studios Chairwoman Donna Langley? She considers it a grave misstep, so much so that she's felt the need to apologize. "I'm sorry that we sent them into space," Langley stated at the Toronto International Film Festival (via Variety). She's been with the historic film company for over two decades now, having overseen the development of this franchise. Her need to speak out on that decision makes sense from a certain perspective. "Fast X" was a significant box office disappointment that reflected a dwindling interest in this property's viability, with its supposed final chapter stuck in development limbo. But at the same time, apologizing for a concept the "Fast & Furious" team had been teasing for years is such a cop out.
Sending the Fast crew to space may have been too much, but wasn't that the point?
The only reason why the "Fast & Furious" movies became such a global phenomenon past 2011 is solely due to "Fast Five" and its radical rebranding of what these films could be. Once you start hauling bank vaults through the streets of Rio de Janeiro, it's hard to go back to what you were doing before. Later installments had to build upon this central action set piece, and, as a result, it led to the longest runway ever built ("Fast & Furious 6"), a Lamborghini being driven through three skyscrapers ("Furious 7"), and an arctic submarine chase ("The Fate of the Furious"). Seeing what wild and outlandish idea these movies were going to do next was all part of their appeal. I always thought it would be funny to show the first film to a newcomer, follow it up with the latest sequel, and let them try to fill in the blanks from there.
"Furious 7" was the franchise's best chance at having a natural ending, but there was no way this cash cow was going to close the book given that it broke box office records galore. With one of its emotional ties gone as a result of Paul Walker's tragic death, the only thing the "Fast and Furious" movies could do is go full Saturday morning cartoon when it comes to logic and physics. Funny enough though, "F9" director Justin Lin actually sought out advice from NASA when it came to constructing the ludicrous space sequence and learned that it was a surprisingly plausible endeavor. It just seems silly for Langley to apologize for a decision that was all but inevitable at the franchise's current pace.
Things may be on the comedown, though, as Diesel has expressed his conditions for "Fast 11." They include a return to the Los Angeles street racing scene, as well as a very bad idea involving Brian's return.I don't know if this franchise is even capable of going back to basics after everything it's gone through, but I guess we'll see.
"F9: The Fast Saga" is currently streaming on Prime Video.