The long-planned spinoffs to The Fast and Furious movies move forward. Preproduction on the spinoffs now takes on a great deal of precedence for the studio since the primary film series soon comes to a conclusion. September 4 looks to be the date when filming starts. Where will the filming commence? Recent news from Screenrant.com confirms three shooting locations: Atlanta, Hawaii, and the United Kingdom.
The title of the spinoff, Hobbs & Shaw, pushes the team-up of Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham’s characters from the Furious films. Both characters proved immensely popular. Fans want to see more of them. In Johnson’s case, his box office strength can catapult almost any film to massive success. The cinematic version of Baywatch serves as a rare Dwayne Johnson flop.
Jason Statham experienced up and down success with some films delivering less-than-desirable box office levels. He seems to do better in ensemble films. His next project, Meg, leads him to tangle with a monstrous Megoladon shark. The fantasy element combined with Statham’s Fast and Furious career boost may help turn Meg into a major hit. Ironically, Johnson battle giant monsters in the upcoming video game adaptation Rampage.
Spinoffs traditionally existed in the world of television. Movie studios didn’t seem much interested in spinning off new franchises from existing ones. Even when a franchise scored huge at the box office, spinoffs rarely seemed part any strategies going forward. All that has changed. The new Star Wars movies show spinoffs can do well at the box office. Several spinoffs under the Star Wars banner plan to go into production. The Fast and Furious franchise now follows that trajectory.
Spinoffs may owe their new-found appreciation at the studios connected to fears over declining box office ticket sales. With so many alternative entertainment options available, people aren’t spending a lot of money to go to the movies. Once a franchise proves it can deliver those elusive high ticket sales, the studios embrace the idea of keeping the franchise going and going in several directions.
