Here’s the first trailer for “Furious 7”. And it looks awesome.
The film stars Paul Walker, Vin Diesel, Dwayne Johnson, Michelle Rodriguez, Jordana Brewster, Tyrese Gibson, Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, Elsa Pataky, Lucas Black, Jason Statham, Djimon Hounsou, Tony Jaa, Ronda Rousey and Kurt Russell.
Lukas Eggen can be reached at eggen.lukas@gmail.com.
Well, not really. But Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has taken over the box office world. You think I’m kidding? EW pointed this out: Take a look at the last 16 weeks. There has been a movie starring Johnson in the top 10 every week since Feb. 22. It started with “Snitch” and most recently continued with “Fast and Furious 6”, which co-stars Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Luke Evans and more:
Feb. 22-24 – Snitch (No. 2)
Mar. 1-3 – Snitch (No. 4)
Mar. 8-10 – Snitch (No. 5)
Mar. 15-17 – Snitch (No. 6)
Mar. 22-24 – Snitch (No. 10)
Mar. 29-31 – G.I. Joe: Retaliation (No. 1)
Apr. 5-7 – G.I. Joe: Retaliation (No. 2)
Apr. 12-14 – G.I. Joe: Retaliation (No. 4)
Apr. 19-21 – G.I. Joe: Retaliation (No. 5)
Apr. 26-28 – Pain & Gain (No. 1), G.I. Joe: Retaliation (No. 6)
May 3-5 – Pain & Gain (No. 2)
May 10-12 – Pain & Gain (No. 3)
May 17-19 – Pain & Gain (No. 4)
May 24-26 – Fast & Furious 6 (No. 1)
June 1-3 – Fast & Furious 6 (No. 1)
June 7-9 – Fast & Furious 6 (No. 2)
His last three movies have reached No. one at the box office for its opening weekend and combined, his 2013 movies have earned $956 million. And I thought Channing Tatum had a good 2012. This puts that to shame. Also, Johnson hosts the TNT show “The Hero”.
Lukas Eggen can be reached at eggen.lukas@gmail.com.
“Fast and Furious 6” is on its way to becoming the highest grossing film domestically and internationally in the hit franchise. The film set an opening weekend record for Universal when it opened to $97 million. The film has now crossed $500 million, the fastest to reach that mark in Universal history. The film stars Vin Diesel, Dwayne Johnson, Paul Walker, Luke Evans and more. Justin Lin directed.
Lukas Eggen can be reached at eggen.lukas@gmail.com.
One month is in the books for the summer movie season. What was your favorite? A little note, I didn’t get to see really any of the smaller releases since I don’t live in a major town. But I did my best.
Here’s how I would rank them:
1. “Fast and Furious 6”: This may not be the “best film” in terms of acting and script, but it’s the most fun I’ve had at the movies in a long time. It’s big, loud, completely outrageous and a heck of a good time. Vin Diesel, Dwayne Johnson, Paul Walker and the rest provide one of the best summer action movies I’ve seen.
2. “Iron Man 3”: Erased “Iron Man 2” from my memory (for the most part). I loved the Ben Kingsley twist and, aside from a few misgivings, was an enjoyable romp.
3. “Star Trek Into Darkness”: It’s an uneven film tonally and pace wise. Also, is very emotional in parts, yet glosses over other parts. Still, a solid film, but not the leap forward many of us were hoping for, despite Benedict Cumberbatch providing a great Khan.
4. “The Great Gatsby”: I wanted to like this film. But, as I stated in my review, it seems Baz Luhrmann romanticized the very thing the book sought to de-romanticize. It was a waste of a great performance from Leonardo DiCaprio.
5. “Now You See Me”: Great cast wasted on poor story and poor execution.
6. “The Hangover Part III”: Just god awful.
7. “After Earth”: Even more awful.
I didn’t see “Epic” and have yet to see “Before Midnight”. What was your favorite film of May?
Lukas Eggen can be reached at eggen.lukas@gmail.com.
“Fast and Furious 6” is probably my favorite film of the summer so far. From director Justin Lin and starring Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Luke Evans, Dwayne Johnson, Michelle Rodriguez, Gal Gadot and a lot more, the film is a total blast. SPOILERS: the most entertaining scene? The third act where they take down a plane. Here’s a featurette that shows how Lin and the crew tried to shoot as much of that as possible.
Lukas Eggen can be reached at eggen.lukas@gmail.com.
They’re back. Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Michelle Rodriguez, Dwayne Johnson and company are back for “Fast and Furious 6”, this time facing off against Luke Evans. Does this film compare to “Fast Five” or is Justin Lin’s latest running out of gas?
The Good
This movie, like “Fast Five” is so much fun. The action is crazy and raised to a new level. The flip car driven by Evans is kick-ass in action. And yes, the set pieces do get ridiculous. But scenes with a tank driving down a highway and the plane sequence might discard any form of realism, but they’re hugely entertaining. Evans is clearly having fun as the villain and the fight scenes, most notably Rodriguez vs. Gina Carano are very well staged. There are some funny wise cracks and, stay tuned during the credits for a tease to “Fast and Furious 7”, because it should get action movie fans very, very excited.
The Bad
Diesel at times seems to be phoning in his performance. Not that I’m expecting Oscar worthy performances, but at times he seemed a little bored and just going through the motions. Also, the humor doesn’t always work in the film. And let’s face it, if you’re not a fan of “Fast Five”, you’re not going to be a fan of this film as the action gets more ridiculous.
The Final Word
An Oscar winner this ain’t. But “Fast and Furious 6” is a fantastically enjoyable action film. The action is relentless, fun and entertaining and it seems the franchise is taking off. For those looking for an exciting summer action film, look no further than this one.
Lukas Eggen can be reached at eggen.lukas@gmail.com.
Two highly anticipated sequels and one new film on the block look to take advantage of the lucrative Memorial Day weekend. What film will come out on top?
This is going to come down to a (pardon the pun) race between “The Hangover Part III” and “Fast and Furious 6”. Todd Phillips’ latest wisely decided to open one day early. But this one has a lot working against it. The second film opened big a couple of years back, but then went away quickly, not even matching its predecessor, despite opening twice as big. Third films in franchises, (“Shrek the Third”, “Spider-Man 3”, “The Matrix Revolutions”) rarely perform as well as the first two installments. And the second one was hated by critics and fans a like. This one’s getting trashed by the critics too, so this one won’t come close to the first two film’s grosses. Still, a five-day opening of $95-105 million seems possible, but expect it also to fade fast.
“Fast and Furious 6” on the other hand is hot on the heels of “Fast Five”, which became the highest grossing film in the franchise and the most critically loved one as well. The film sees Vin Diesel, Paul Walker and Dwayne Johnson return, as well as Michelle Rodriguez and a lot of others. Luke Evans joins as the villain. This film may have a tough time matching the last film because of all the competition this summer, but Universal clearly believes in this film, hiring “Saw” director James Wan to take over from Justin Lin for “Fast and Furious 7”. This one has a lot of pent up demand and is a lot more accessible than “The Hangover Part III”, though it still targets males.
A four-day opening north of $100 million should be the standard (If you include Thursday night shows).
“Epic” seems like the odd film out. It should be a hit. It’s the first animated film since “The Croods” and families will be looking for a movie to see. But, animated action films always tend to be a tougher sell and previews have given off very different tones for the film. A voice cast that includes Pit Bull, Christoph Waltz, Amanda Seyfreid, Beyonce and Colin Farrell is an interesting mix. And this one should be a modest hit over the four-day weekend. However, this is also a film that could break out in a big way if families are determined to see a film, though I think most will wait for “Despicable Me 2” and “Monsters University”. But I think a four-day opening of $45 million plus is within reach.
Lukas Eggen can be reached at eggen.lukas@gmail.com.
Dwayne Johnson has the top movie in America right now in Michael Bay’s “Pain & Gain”, which he stars in along with Mark Wahlberg. But it’s “Fast and Furious 6” that will be his biggest hit of the year. And here’s the final trailer for the anticipated sequel.
The film sees Paul Walker, Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Gina Carano and a whole lot more reunite for the sequel from director Justin Lin.
Lukas Eggen can be reached at eggen.lukas@gmail.com.
“Fast Five” starring Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and more was one of 2011’s surprise hits. “Fast and Furious 6” promises to push the envelope even further. Justin Lin, however, stepped down as director for “Fast and Furious 7”. Now producer Neal Moritz talked about new director James Wan, who fans will know as the helmer of “Saw” and “Insidious”.
“(He’s) a terrific, terrific director at the top, top of his genre. He’s done everything you could do in the genre he’s been working in, and as he said to me the other day, everything he has trained himself within that genre has been so he could take the next step up into something like Fast & Furious… I’ve always been a fan of his, he’s one of the people that we initially had on our list as a possible replacement, but I can just tell you when he came in and told us what his vision was, when he left the room we all looked at each other and said ‘That’s our director,” Moitz said.
Moritz also confirmed that Johnson will be in the seventh film. No word on whether that Jason Statham rumor is true, though.
Lukas Eggen can be reached at eggen.lukas@gmail.com.
Dwayne Johnson hinted that if the next Fast and Furious film shot this summer he would have to drop out because of his schedule. But just because director Justin Lin is out and James Wan is in doesn’t mean Universal won’t move…fast and furiously to get “Fast and Furious 7” out. At CinemaCon, the release date for the seventh film was set for July 11, 2014. That’s fast considering “Fast and Furious 6” comes out this Memorial Day weekend. The sixth film stars Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Michelle Rodriguez and more. The seventh film is rumored to have Jason Statham as the villain.
Lukas Eggen can be reached at eggen.lukas@gmail.com.
Lukas Eggen 