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.