Given how outlandish and enormous the "Fast & Furious" film series would eventually become, it's a little mind-boggling to remember that Rob Cohen's 2001 original, "The Fast and the Furious," was little more than a mid-budget "Point Break" knockoff. The story goes that star Paul Walker, having enjoyed working with Cohen on the 2000 college thriller "The Skulls" was asked what his dream action project would be. Walker said that he wanted to appear in an action movie mashup of "Days of Thunder" and "Donnie Brasco." That is: something with fast cars, but also a cop who goes undercover to infiltrate the criminal underground. The subsequent screenplay, written by Gary Scott Thompson, drew inspiration from a 1998 article in Vibe Magazine all about the New York underground racing scene. David Ayer was brought in to work on a draft, and he changed the setting to Los Angeles and made the cast more diverse.
- 11/5/2023
- by Witney Seibold
- Slash Film
David Ayer feels done in by the “Fast & Furious” franchise.
The “Suicide Squad” director recently opened up about his relationship to the blockbuster action series after co-writing the 2001 original.
Read More: Dwayne Johnson Is Coming Back For A New ‘Fast And Furious’ Movie
On the new episode of Jon Bernthal’s “Real Ones” podcast, the filmmaker revealed that he hasn’t been compensated the way he believes he should have for his role in kickstarting the franchise.
“Biggest franchise in Hollywood, and I don’t have any of it,” Ayer said. “I got nothing to show for it, nothing, because of the way the business works.”
Released in 2001, “The Fast and the Furious” was inspired by a late-’90s Vibe magazine article about the underground street racing scene in New York.
Writers Gary Scott Thompson and Erik Bergquist originally developed the idea into a screenplay, and Ayer was brought...
The “Suicide Squad” director recently opened up about his relationship to the blockbuster action series after co-writing the 2001 original.
Read More: Dwayne Johnson Is Coming Back For A New ‘Fast And Furious’ Movie
On the new episode of Jon Bernthal’s “Real Ones” podcast, the filmmaker revealed that he hasn’t been compensated the way he believes he should have for his role in kickstarting the franchise.
“Biggest franchise in Hollywood, and I don’t have any of it,” Ayer said. “I got nothing to show for it, nothing, because of the way the business works.”
Released in 2001, “The Fast and the Furious” was inspired by a late-’90s Vibe magazine article about the underground street racing scene in New York.
Writers Gary Scott Thompson and Erik Bergquist originally developed the idea into a screenplay, and Ayer was brought...
- 8/24/2023
- by Corey Atad
- ET Canada
Writer-director David Ayer is calling out the “Fast and the Furious” franchise for ignoring his contributions to the 2001 film.
During a recent episode of Jon Bernthal’s “Real Ones” podcast, Ayer addressed his involvement on “The Fast and the Furious” film that kicked off the multi-billion dollar franchise. Gary Scott Thompson and Erik Bergquist wrote previous drafts of the script before Ayer came on board and changed the location of the film and added realistic elements and diverse characters, according to the “Suicide Squad” helmer.
“Biggest franchise in Hollywood, and I don’t have any of it,” Ayer said. “I got nothing to show for it, nothing, because of the way the business works.”
Ayer continued, “When I got that script, that shit was set in New York, it was all Italian kids, right? I’m like, ‘Bro, I’m not going to take it unless I can set it in L.
During a recent episode of Jon Bernthal’s “Real Ones” podcast, Ayer addressed his involvement on “The Fast and the Furious” film that kicked off the multi-billion dollar franchise. Gary Scott Thompson and Erik Bergquist wrote previous drafts of the script before Ayer came on board and changed the location of the film and added realistic elements and diverse characters, according to the “Suicide Squad” helmer.
“Biggest franchise in Hollywood, and I don’t have any of it,” Ayer said. “I got nothing to show for it, nothing, because of the way the business works.”
Ayer continued, “When I got that script, that shit was set in New York, it was all Italian kids, right? I’m like, ‘Bro, I’m not going to take it unless I can set it in L.
- 8/24/2023
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
As a co-writer of 2001’s “The Fast and the Furious,” David Ayer helped launch one of the highest-grossing film franchises of all time. Yet, the “Suicide Squad” and “End of Watch” director says he has “nothing to show” for his contributions to Universal Pictures’ high-octane racing series.
“Biggest franchise in Hollywood, and I don’t have any of it,” Ayer said on a recent episode of Jon Bernthal’s “Real Ones” podcast (via EW). “I got nothing to show for it, nothing, because of the way the business works.”
With 10 mainline movies plus a “Hobbs & Shaw” spinoff, the “Fast & Furious” franchise has grossed over $7 billion. A follow-up to 2023’s “Fast X,” as well as another standalone movie focused on Dwayne Johnson’s Hobbs, are already in the works.
“The narrative is I didn’t do shit, right?” Ayer continued. “It’s like people hijack narratives, control narratives, create narratives to empower themselves,...
“Biggest franchise in Hollywood, and I don’t have any of it,” Ayer said on a recent episode of Jon Bernthal’s “Real Ones” podcast (via EW). “I got nothing to show for it, nothing, because of the way the business works.”
With 10 mainline movies plus a “Hobbs & Shaw” spinoff, the “Fast & Furious” franchise has grossed over $7 billion. A follow-up to 2023’s “Fast X,” as well as another standalone movie focused on Dwayne Johnson’s Hobbs, are already in the works.
“The narrative is I didn’t do shit, right?” Ayer continued. “It’s like people hijack narratives, control narratives, create narratives to empower themselves,...
- 8/24/2023
- by Ethan Shanfeld
- Variety Film + TV
David Ayer has claimed he has "nothing to show" for writing 'The Fast and the Furious'.The 55-year-old filmmaker contributed to the screenplay for the first film in the high octane franchise - which originally saw Gary Scott Thompson and Erik Bergquist write drafts based on a Vibe magazine article 'Racer X' - but he insisted the nature of Hollywood means he doesn't reap the rewards.Appearing on the 'Real Ones' podcast, he told host Jon Bernthal: “Biggest franchise in Hollywood, and I don’t have any of it.“I got nothing to show for it, nothing, because of the way the business works.”While Thompson and Begquist wrote the drafts, Ayer has claimed he changed the focus to be on the culture he knew in Los Angeles, and ensured there was diversity in the 2001 blockbuster.He added: "When I got that script, that s*** was set in New York,...
- 8/24/2023
- by Alistair McGeorge
- Bang Showbiz
David Ayer says he has “nothing to show” for writing 2001’s The Fast and the Furious, the film that kicked off the long-running franchise.
In a recent episode of Jon Bernthal’s Real Ones podcast, the writer-producer-director opened up about the film, which was released more than two decades ago and initially adapted from a 1998 Vibe magazine article.
“Biggest franchise in Hollywood, and I don’t have any of it,” Ayer explained. “I got nothing to show for it, nothing, because of the way the business works.”
While Gary Scott Thompson and Erik Bergquist wrote drafts of the script, Ayer said he was the one who came in and added diversity and street racing culture to the screenplay.
“When I got that script, that shit was set in New York, it was all Italian kids, right?” he recalled. “I’m like, ‘Bro, I’m not gonna take it unless I can set it in L.
In a recent episode of Jon Bernthal’s Real Ones podcast, the writer-producer-director opened up about the film, which was released more than two decades ago and initially adapted from a 1998 Vibe magazine article.
“Biggest franchise in Hollywood, and I don’t have any of it,” Ayer explained. “I got nothing to show for it, nothing, because of the way the business works.”
While Gary Scott Thompson and Erik Bergquist wrote drafts of the script, Ayer said he was the one who came in and added diversity and street racing culture to the screenplay.
“When I got that script, that shit was set in New York, it was all Italian kids, right?” he recalled. “I’m like, ‘Bro, I’m not gonna take it unless I can set it in L.
- 8/24/2023
- by Carly Thomas
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
David Ayer is furious about a fast one Hollywood has apparently pulled.
In a recent interview on Jon Bernthal’s “Real Ones” podcast, the writer/director (Suicide Squad and End of Watch) said he has “nothing to show” for writing The Fast and the Furious, the first film in the long-running series.
“Biggest franchise in Hollywood, and I don’t have any of it,” Ayer said. “I got nothing to show for it, nothing, because of the way the business works.”
The 2001 film The Fast and the Furious was adapted from a Vibe magazine article, “Racer X.” Gary Scott Thompson and Erik Bergquist wrote drafts of the script, but Ayer claims he injected diversity and the culture he knew.
“When I got that script, that s— was set in New York, it was all Italian kids, right?” he told Bernthal. “I’m like, ‘Bro, I’m not gonna take it...
In a recent interview on Jon Bernthal’s “Real Ones” podcast, the writer/director (Suicide Squad and End of Watch) said he has “nothing to show” for writing The Fast and the Furious, the first film in the long-running series.
“Biggest franchise in Hollywood, and I don’t have any of it,” Ayer said. “I got nothing to show for it, nothing, because of the way the business works.”
The 2001 film The Fast and the Furious was adapted from a Vibe magazine article, “Racer X.” Gary Scott Thompson and Erik Bergquist wrote drafts of the script, but Ayer claims he injected diversity and the culture he knew.
“When I got that script, that s— was set in New York, it was all Italian kids, right?” he told Bernthal. “I’m like, ‘Bro, I’m not gonna take it...
- 8/24/2023
- by The Deadline Team
- Deadline Film + TV
If you’re like me, you may have forgotten that David Ayer had a hand in writing The Fast and the Furious. However, Ayer definitely hasn’t forgotten as he has “nothing to show” for writing the first installment of what became a multi-billion dollar blockbuster franchise.
David Ayer spoke on Jon Bernthal’s Real Ones podcast to discuss his part in The Fast and the Furious. “Biggest franchise in Hollywood, and I don’t have any of it,” Ayer said. “I got nothing to show for it, nothing, because of the way the business works.” The film was based on Racer X, a Vibe magazine article by Ken Li. Gary Scott Thompson and Erik Bergquist wrote the initial drafts, but David Ayer was brought in to rewrite it.
“When I got that script, that s— was set in New York, it was all Italian kids, right?” Ayer said. “I’m like,...
David Ayer spoke on Jon Bernthal’s Real Ones podcast to discuss his part in The Fast and the Furious. “Biggest franchise in Hollywood, and I don’t have any of it,” Ayer said. “I got nothing to show for it, nothing, because of the way the business works.” The film was based on Racer X, a Vibe magazine article by Ken Li. Gary Scott Thompson and Erik Bergquist wrote the initial drafts, but David Ayer was brought in to rewrite it.
“When I got that script, that s— was set in New York, it was all Italian kids, right?” Ayer said. “I’m like,...
- 8/24/2023
- by Kevin Fraser
- JoBlo.com
This episode of Revisited was Written by Cody Hamman, Narrated by Travis Hopson, Edited by Juan Jimenez, Produced by Adam Walton and Chris Bumbray, and Executive Produced by Berge Garabedian.
Intro: One of the biggest action franchises of the last twenty-five years had humble beginnings. It started with a simple little movie about street racing, based on a magazine article, with a cast of young people who weren’t very well-known and action scenes that are relatively grounded. That movie has somehow spawned multiple sequels and a spin-off. Along the way, those further installments have gotten bigger, crazier, and more over-the-top, while earning over six billion dollars at the worldwide box office. The movie we’re talking about is the 2001 release The Fast and the Furious (watch it Here) – and it’s time for it to be Revisited.
Set-up: The Fast and the Furious wouldn’t have happened if it...
Intro: One of the biggest action franchises of the last twenty-five years had humble beginnings. It started with a simple little movie about street racing, based on a magazine article, with a cast of young people who weren’t very well-known and action scenes that are relatively grounded. That movie has somehow spawned multiple sequels and a spin-off. Along the way, those further installments have gotten bigger, crazier, and more over-the-top, while earning over six billion dollars at the worldwide box office. The movie we’re talking about is the 2001 release The Fast and the Furious (watch it Here) – and it’s time for it to be Revisited.
Set-up: The Fast and the Furious wouldn’t have happened if it...
- 4/24/2023
- by Cody Hamman
- JoBlo.com
Looking back over the "Fast & Furious" movies, it's astonishing how far they have evolved. In 2021's "F9," two characters literally launched a car into space. This was followed by a scene where the central team of stunt drivers equipped their cars with powerful electromagnets that could pull entire washing machines out of storefronts in order to fling them at enemy pursuers. Dom Toretto (Vin Diesel) and his crew are more or less unkillable at this point, a detail that the characters were wise enough to acknowledge; Chris "Ludacris" Bridges points out that they may all actually be immortal.
Looking back to Rob Cohen's 2001 original film, "The Fast and the Furious," one finds a very, very modest beginning. "The Fast and the Furious" is essentially a mid-budget "Point Break" knockoff about ultra-cool fast-driving thieves who do nothing more sinister than boost DVD players from delivery trucks. Like in "Point Break,...
Looking back to Rob Cohen's 2001 original film, "The Fast and the Furious," one finds a very, very modest beginning. "The Fast and the Furious" is essentially a mid-budget "Point Break" knockoff about ultra-cool fast-driving thieves who do nothing more sinister than boost DVD players from delivery trucks. Like in "Point Break,...
- 3/28/2023
- by Witney Seibold
- Slash Film
Exclusive: Movie market regulars and genre aficionados Greg Newman (Catfight), Travis Stevens (Buster Mal’s Heart) and Giles Edwards are launching film and TV genre production company Queensbury Pictures here in Cannes.
Edwards was formerly Head Of Acquisitions at UK distributor Metrodome, producer Travis Stevens has his own production banner Snowfort Pictures and Greg Newman is Executive Vice President of U.S. genre producer-distributor Dark Sky Films. Stevens will now realign away from Snowfort under whose name he also made movies such as Jodorowsky’s Dune and Mohawk.
Queensbury movies will be supported by Dark Sky parent company Mpi Media Group and the firm will operate out of Los Angeles, Chicago and London. Edwards continues to serve as Head of Acquisitions and Development, Europe, for Mpi.
The new company’s initial slate comprises: Demon, a reimagining of the well-traveled Polish festival title of the same name, to be written and...
Edwards was formerly Head Of Acquisitions at UK distributor Metrodome, producer Travis Stevens has his own production banner Snowfort Pictures and Greg Newman is Executive Vice President of U.S. genre producer-distributor Dark Sky Films. Stevens will now realign away from Snowfort under whose name he also made movies such as Jodorowsky’s Dune and Mohawk.
Queensbury movies will be supported by Dark Sky parent company Mpi Media Group and the firm will operate out of Los Angeles, Chicago and London. Edwards continues to serve as Head of Acquisitions and Development, Europe, for Mpi.
The new company’s initial slate comprises: Demon, a reimagining of the well-traveled Polish festival title of the same name, to be written and...
- 5/9/2018
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
How can we not talk about family When family's all that we got?—Wiz Khalifa (feat. Charlie Puth), See You AgainWhat a long, strange ride it's been… and still some way to go. As I write, the eighth film in the Fast/Furious series (Ff) is still playing in thousands of cinemas worldwide. I won't concern myself here with the box-office performance of The Fate of the Furious—nor will I attempt synopsis of this or the previous installments—except to note that enough money was taken on opening-day alone to confirm we can expect the ninth and tenth in this prodigiously lucrative Universal franchise to hit our screens late spring or early summer, in 2019 and 2021.Ideally the 10th—and, presuming Vin Diesel's September 2015 comment about "one last trilogy" is honored, final—picture should arrive exactly 20 years after Rob Cohen’s The Fast and the Furious bowed on 22nd June,...
- 5/8/2017
- MUBI
It's not always easy to hear over the revving of engines, but the sometimes poetic, sometimes idiotic, sometimes poetically idiotic -- "poetiotic?" -- dialogue has remained a highlight of "The Fast and the Furious" series' first four installments. With "Fast Five" hitting theaters tomorrow, I rewatched the entire series to date and picked out my favorite and most quotable lines of dialogue. Then, just because it's impossible not to miss when you're listening to words that are coming out of these characters' mouths, I also made a second list containing all of my favorite and most quotable homoerotic dialogue. I've always been of the opinion that the undercurrent of sexual tension between the big muscley dudes in these movies was accidental, an unintended byproduct of these excessively, cartoonishly masculine movies. But you look at the lines I picked. It's hard not to believe at least some of it is intentional.
- 4/28/2011
- by Matt Singer
- ifc.com
Producer Lili Fini Zanuck ("Rush") is set to direct a film adaptation of the darkly comic 1996 novel "Assault on Tony's" says The Hollywood Reporter.
"Leaving Las Vegas" author John O'Brien penned the book which is set over seventeen days in the near future when the U.S. is going up in flames due to rampant anarchy and mass race rioting. Inside a pub, a group of middle-class white alcoholics are initially united by the desire to sit and drink their way through events and defend the bar.
However, as the liquor supply starts to dwindle, each member's prejudices star to come out and it all ends in shocking violence. O'Brien killed himself before he finished it, leaving his sibling author Maureen O'Brien to write the conclusion based on his notes.
Erik Bergquist ("The Fast and the Furious") adapted the script which will change shorten the crisis to three days, change...
"Leaving Las Vegas" author John O'Brien penned the book which is set over seventeen days in the near future when the U.S. is going up in flames due to rampant anarchy and mass race rioting. Inside a pub, a group of middle-class white alcoholics are initially united by the desire to sit and drink their way through events and defend the bar.
However, as the liquor supply starts to dwindle, each member's prejudices star to come out and it all ends in shocking violence. O'Brien killed himself before he finished it, leaving his sibling author Maureen O'Brien to write the conclusion based on his notes.
Erik Bergquist ("The Fast and the Furious") adapted the script which will change shorten the crisis to three days, change...
- 5/14/2010
- by Garth Franklin
- Dark Horizons
After a nearly two-decade hiatus, Oscar-winning producer Lili Fini Zanuck is returning to her directorial roots to helm a big-screen adaptation of John O'Brien's 1996 novel "Assault on Tony's."
Mark Johnson is producing the project, which is about to start casting with the goal of entering production by year's end.
The dark novel by O'Brien, the author of "Leaving Las Vegas," revolves around five white patrons who are barricaded in a bar called Tony's for 17 days while a race riot rages. The drunks continue to drink, but things get intense when the liquor supply begins to dwindle. Power struggles ensue, rationing begins and the alcoholics descend into their own chaos as the violence escalates outside.
Erik Bergquist ("The Fast and the Furious") adapted the novel and has made updates to reflect the current climate. The riots now have more to do with today's economic crisis, and the 17 days have been reduced to three.
Mark Johnson is producing the project, which is about to start casting with the goal of entering production by year's end.
The dark novel by O'Brien, the author of "Leaving Las Vegas," revolves around five white patrons who are barricaded in a bar called Tony's for 17 days while a race riot rages. The drunks continue to drink, but things get intense when the liquor supply begins to dwindle. Power struggles ensue, rationing begins and the alcoholics descend into their own chaos as the violence escalates outside.
Erik Bergquist ("The Fast and the Furious") adapted the novel and has made updates to reflect the current climate. The riots now have more to do with today's economic crisis, and the 17 days have been reduced to three.
- 5/13/2010
- by By Zorianna Kit
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Director James Foley, whose Confidence recently opened, has been signed on by Working Title and Universal to direct Fortune's Fool, according to Variety. The film, written by Erik Bergquist and to be reworked by Doug Jung, centers around five L.A. cops who steal a lottery ticket worth $36 million from a drug dealer; needless to say, the ticket is a winner.
- 4/25/2003
- IMDbPro News
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