Oh, yeah! You read that right! At this point, Vin Diesel and Universal seem to use the Fast & Furious franchise to mint as much money as possible. The former’s recent announcement about turning Fast X into a trilogy has angered many of the franchise’s fans on social media. And their anger is justified. Just think about how low the franchise has come since dropping Furious 7 in 2015. The more it tried to go bigger than previous instalments, the more it kept messing up itself.
The first four entries in the Fast & Furious franchise were profitable despite their mixed critical receptions. Then, everything changed with Fast Five (2011). The fifth instalment earned fantastic reviews from critics and breathed new fire into the series. In 2015, the franchise reached the apex in terms of box office collection and critical reception with Furious 7. Many fans still believe the seventh entry should have culminated the franchise after paying a fitting tribute to the late star Paul Walker.
Furious 7 is undoubtedly the best entry in the F&F series. It is somewhat due to how much the franchise has gone downhill since then. The follow-up, The Fate of the Furious (2017), was considered a worthy sequel to the 2015’s entry. But it failed to match the quality of its predecessor. The spin-off, Hobbs & Shaw, had ridiculous and over-the-top action sequences and plot elements. And then, all hell broke loose in F9. Sending a car to space? Seriously, what the hell was that?
Now, let’s turn our attention back to Fast X. The upcoming instalment has many problems to tackle. The biggest one is its humungous budget of $340 million, causing box office pundits to doubt the film’s success at the global box office. We should remind you that no entry in the F&F franchise has earned more than $340 million in the United States. It means that the fate of Fast X heavily depends upon its performance in territories outside the country. The post-pandemic cinema era has been fruitful only for prominent franchises, such as Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) and James Cameron’s Avatar franchise (The Way of Water grossed over $2.3 billion globally). Given how bloated, exhausting, and ridiculous the F&F franchise has become, we cannot ignore the odds of Fast X tanking at the box office. It all depends on how well the upcoming instalment performs in territories outside the US.
Fast X will hit theatres worldwide on May 19. Stay tuned for more updates.
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