Warning: The Following article contains spoilers for Fast X.Fast Xhas raced into theaters, and while the franchise’s popularity has softened somewhat in the US,it is still incredibly popular across the globe.Fast Xwas filmed and designed as a two-part story, with the story leaving audiences on a gigantic cliffhanger. The idea is that the next movie, the 11th installment of theFast and Furiousfilm series, would be the franchise’s grand finale. However, starVin Dieselgained a great deal of attention when he revealed atthe film’s world premiere in Romethat after seeing the movie, Universal Pictures asked if they could change the two-part finale of the Fast & Furious film series into a three-part trilogy. Diesel stated, “Going into making this movie, the studio asked if this could be a two-parter. And after the studio saw this one, they said, ‘Could you makeFast X, the finale, a trilogy?'” Franchise veteran and co-star Michelle Rodriguez also noted, “It’s three acts in any story.” So what gives? Was Diesel serious here? Is Universal considering transforming the finale ofFast Xinto a three-parter instead of two? While the concept Diesel stated is not unprecedented, and Universal has yet to confirm his comments,theFast & Furiousfranchiseshould avoid making theFast Xfinale a three-part adventure.
‘Fast & Furious’ Is Starting To Run Out of Gas
Looking back, it’s almost easy to forget that theFast & Furiousfilm franchise originated in 2001 with the first hit film,The Fast and the Furious. By the third entry,Fast & Furious: Tokyo Drift, most of the original actors had exited the franchise. It was starting to resemble a once big-budget film series that should be relegated to direct-to-video bargain bins due to low-quality sequels where many of the original players were MIA. FilmmakerJustin Linrevamped the whole franchise and gave it a much-needed shot in the arm with 2009’sFast & Furious, with most of the actors from the first film back and reprising their roles. And most of all, the film’s original starsDiesel andPaul Walkerwere both back onboard. Lin’s success continued withFast FiveandFast & Furious 6, and the franchise’s box office and popularity skyrocketed. The franchise hit the peak of its momentum withFurious 7in 2015, which was also the last appearance featuring the late Walker as Brian O’Connor. The film was well-liked by audiences and praised by critics as well, grossing over $1.5 billion worldwide and $353 million in domestic ticket sales. The franchise grew not only in size and popularity but also in scope. Also,Fast & Furiousnotably evolved from the original premise about street racing thieves to making the thieves intobig-time, world-saving action heroes.
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However, in recent years, the franchise has begun to see a decline. Since its peak in popularity withFurious 7, box office results have been sliding. Some of that can be partially blamed on the pandemic, but it also appears that audience enthusiasm for the franchise is starting to wane.Fast Xhad a domestic opening weekend box office gross of $67 million, which is even lower than the $70 million opening weekend forF9: The Fast Sagain 2021. To put things into perspective,Fast Fivebrought in $86 million for its opening weekend and that was back in the spring of 2011. The returns on the franchise are noticeably diminishing, andFast Xwas unable to generate much of a spark to give Dominic Toretto and the Familya much-needed shot in the arm.
WhileFast Xis performing well atthe overseas box office, there is also the issue of rising budgets to consider.Fast Xhas a reported production budget of about $340 million. That doesn’t include prints and advertising. A big-budget blockbuster tentpole likely costs at least $100 million to market the picture, especially for a large global release. In other words, sequels toFast Xwill not be cheap, and their box office grosses are diminishing. That would suggest that the budgets of this franchise are becoming so huge, it will be much harder for future installments to break even and yield a higher profit margin for the studio. Considering the major reveals ofFast X, andthe returns ofDwayne “The Rock” JohnsonandGal Gadotto the franchise, that doesn’t bode well to keep costs and budgets for down for two more hypothetical sequels. Even if the return of The Rock as Luke Hobbs and Gadot as Gisele Yashar drive up interest for the next movie, it will not be cheap to have them back in the mix for aFast & Furioussequel.
The Danger of Turning ‘Fast X’ Into a Three-Parter
If theFast Xfinale suddenly becomes a three-part story, it becomes incredibly risky, especially at a time when the franchise’s audience is starting to see its patience wearing thin. Turning this into a three-parter could seriously backfire. One instance where a studio and franchise opted to transform a duology into a trilogy that backfired wasThe Hobbitfilm trilogy.The HobbitwasJ.R.R. Tolkien’sprequel to hisTheLord of the Ringsbook trilogy, which was already successfully adapted intoa very successful film trilogy byPeter Jackson. The final installment,The Return of the King, was a smash hit at the box office, and the film won 11 Academy Awards including Best Picture.
When the time finally came to adaptThe Hobbitinto a film, it was originally thought to be a two-part story. Even that is pushing things a bit.The Hobbitbook was considerably shorter than any of the books inThe Lord of the Ringstrilogy. However, during production, the studio opted to expand the films into three movies rather than two. What was originally conceived as a two-part duology transformed intoa three-part film trilogy. The films were fairly successful financially, but the reception of the films did not come close to the originalLord of the Ringstrilogy. The response from fans and critics toThe Hobbittrilogy was largely mixed to negative. The story was expanded into three films in a way that did not work out very well.
Other successful films that later became franchises or trilogies were never designed as such.Robert ZemeckisandBob Galenever planned forBack to the Futureto become a film trilogy, but the first film was so successful that it transformed into a three-part trilogy and multimedia franchise. However, the third film was less successful than the first two.The Pirates of the Caribbeanis another example of a successful film that became so popular and hit so well that multiple sequels were made. However, thePiratesfranchise also saw a decline in both quality and box office in its latest entry for the film series’ pentalogy.The danger of any franchiseis that no studio will want to stop making films as long as they continue making money; quality be damned. Now, theFast & Furiousseries is falling into that trap, and both the quality and the box office results are starting to decline. There is not enough gas in the tank left to make the franchise finale a three-part trilogy.
The Benefit of Making ‘Fast & Furious 11’ the Finale
If Universal opts out of making the story that began inFast Xas a three-part trilogy, they would have the benefit of marketing the next installment asthe planned finale. The marketing campaign can also focus on the highly-anticipated returns of Hobbs and Gisele. At least the film would benefit from its marketing as the conclusion of the franchise to drive up ticket sales. The focus of directorLouis Leterrier, Diesel, and the rest of the cast and crew should then focus on ending the franchise on a high note rather than a whimper.
Universal has not clarified nor commented on Diesel’s statements at the premiere. It’s very possible Diesel was simply trying to drum up interest in making the finale a three-parter, or perhaps he just merely made an outlandish statement. The untitled sequel toFast Xis currently in the works, amidan ongoing labor strike by the Writers Guild of America. It’s expected to release in 2025, but the possibility of strikes by the acting and directing unions could potentially cause future delays in the upcoming prospective sequels' production pipelines.Fast Xis out now in theaters.
