At least someone out there is thinking about the artistic integrity of the "Fast & Furious" franchise, and that man is the one who started it all, director Rob Cohen. With his first film "The Fast And The Furious" revving its way to over $200 million worldwide, it kicked off a franchise, but that doesn't mean he's always been happy with where it has been going.
"The first couple sequels though, what I hated about them was that it was just for money, the studio was just milking the cash cow. It’s a miracle they didn’t kill it," he told We Got This Covered about "2 Fast 2 Furious" and "The Fast And The Furious: Tokyo Drift." "If you were to just watch 'Tokyo Drift,' you’d say 'I never want to see anything related to Fast and Furious again.' "
And where he's right or wrong about that third installment, its director Justin Lin has really taken the movie from a car driving series into a muscular action vehicle with much wider appeal, as "Fast Five" became a behemoth, topping over $620 million worldwide. But should Universal want Cohen again, he'd be for it — just don't necessarily expect him to follow their current formula. "I’d be happy to do it. I mean, it is my baby. No matter what way they twist it, I am still the guy who did the first one and made it what it was," he said. "I think that for a series to last ten or twelve years, you have to keep growing. I don’t know that I would have gone to the heist world, but the fact that it did $550 million, twelve years after the first, is a compliment to what we started out to do."
Meanwhile, Cohen is still waiting on Vin Diesel for another franchise: "xXx." And while talk of a sequel has percolated, its currently on hold. "It’s sort of dormant, I’m waiting for Vin [Diesel] to get his head out of 'Fast and Furious' sequels," he said.
And speaking of franchises, Cohen could have another one on his hands if "Alex Cross" is a hit, and audiences want more of Tyler Perry's Dr. Alex Cross. Certainly there are enough books by James Patterson to draw on. We'll find out when it opens on October 19th.
The first one is the best and only really good one. I wish they would have only kept rob Cohen doing all of them Justin Lin mest them up bad story wise. Although some of them were action packed where he took them with the story was just stupid!
Bonjour mr Cohen tout d abord met félicitation pour vos vilms qui est un plaisir à regarder ,je voulais seulement vous faire savoir si vous refaite un film comme fast and furious je serrais ravit d anfaire partie .N ayent jamais fais acteur de film met très motiver et passionner de voiture je serrais très enchanté d enfaire partie .je suis belge et j aurais 30 ans le 19 mars 2015. Et si possible pourriez vous me faire parvenir tous renseignement sur la mistubichi eclipse de fast and furious 1 .Encore merci pour votre attention.
I liked the original one, but it was overlydramatic I thought. What I liked about the 2nd film is that it was just mostly all action with some cool cars and not unnecessarily dramatic. Tokyo Drift however did suck, but it sucked because of bad acting and you couldn't understand what was being said half the time because half of the cast couldn't speak English and then that dofous from Texas who was the lead character was even worse. Seriously dude, get down off the tractor next time before you start speaking. I sure hope they don't use him to replace Paul Walker's character in the 7th film and beyond!
The franchise really changed directions with the 4th film on, now it's less about street racing and tuners, and more about testosterone-enhanced meatheads and cars most people can never afford.
Thank you Cohen for starting the series but shut up, Tokyo Drift was great.
Oh god, shut up. The first one sucked and the only reason Fast Five is good is because they took it in a completely new direction that has almost nothing to do with the movie you made a decade ago.
…..says the guy that directed "stealth"
Sour grapes. Yeah right, you'd have taken it in a new direction. That's why you're making Alex Cross and Justin Lin & Chris Morgan are keeping the Fast franchise alive.
Seems like this dude is taking credit for Justin Lin's kickasss sequels.