A testament to the franchise’s staying power has been its ability to sustain relevancy and increase anticipation with an irresistible combination of memorable characters, blistering action and engaging storylines. After the first film’s smash success in 2001, outcast cop Brian O’Conner was partnered with a new crew of savvy racers for 2003’s 2 Fast 2 Furious. A new cast of young up-and-comers in 2006’s The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift hit the mark, and both films performed wildly at the worldwide box office. But Neal Moritz, the producer behind the global phenomenon, knew that if the series was to continue to thrive, the next chapter would need to go back to its roots and delve into the gritty underground world of the ex-con and undercover cop. These adversaries on opposite sides of the law shared a passion for racing…and a grudging respect for one another.
The onscreen reunion of Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Michelle Rodriguez and Jordana Brewster in Fast & Furious 5 was met with a thunderous audience reaction and a record-breaking opening weekend that resulted in more than $350 million at the worldwide box office. The film, which debuted domestically on April 3, 2009, had a record best non-holiday opening weekend for the studio and became the highest-grossing film for that weekend in motion-picture history. It confirmed that the heart of the franchise lay squarely where it all began: with Dom Toretto, Brian O’Conner and their extended family and close friends.
Moritz, a veteran producer with a diverse roster of box-office hits, has always had his finger on the pulse of pop culture and alongside Diesel, who also served as a producer on Fast & Furious, reinvigorated the franchise. The audience couldn’t get enough of the modern-day cowboys and fan response to the film guaranteed another chapter in the series.
“The strength of Fast & Furious and now Fast Five is all about these guys who have a very distinct moral and ethical code that they live by—whether it’s on one side of the law or the other,” remarks Moritz. “Dom’s got his code, Brian’s got his code and even our newest character, Hobbs, played by Dwayne Johnson, has his. As these intersect and conflict with each other, which they do many times over, it adds great tension to the film’s action. It’s great to see when those two things ignite.” “Fast & Furious 5,” a Universal Pictures release and locally distributed by United International Pictures, is currently showing in all Metro Manila Theaters.
