“Fast & Furious” is indeed soon coming to an end. And what comes next for Vin Diesel? He seems to have quite a good idea, as he has hinted.
Regardless of what one may think of Vin Diesel’s acting abilities, the Hollywood star has achieved what even celebrated character actors only rarely accomplish: He has created several iconic screen characters. There’s the feared Furyan Richard B. Riddick, whom fans last saw in “Riddick” in 2013, the fearless Xander Cage from the “xXx” movies, and of course, speed patriarch Dominic Toretto from the “Fast & Furious” series.
But as iconic as they may be among fans, Diesel cannot bring in the big bucks at the global box office with them: “xXx: Return of Xander Cage” grossed an average of $346 million worldwide, while “Riddick” barely reached $100 million in box office revenue. Clearly, the 56-year-old essentially thrives solely on the success of the “Fast & Furious” series. And even this once bright star is on the decline. Most recently, “Fast & Furious 10” grossed $714 million, half as much as the peak of success with “Fast & Furious 7,” which brought in $1.5 billion.
It’s understandable, then, why Diesel would probably prefer to have been making “Fast & Furious” movies until the end of his life. In those, he’s not only the undisputed lead actor but also as a producer, he has creative control and a loyal fan base behind him. Once this chapter is closed, he will be confronted with a new reality – one where he risks gradually following the path of old action stars into B-movie territory. In the worst-case scenario, insignificance could loom. Christian Slater or even Seann William Scott can attest to that.
Diesel will certainly be aware of this. In addition to working on “Fast & Furious 11,” he is feverishly working on “xXx 4,” “Riddick: Furya,” and, together with director F. Gary Gray, on the action-comedy “Muscle.” No time to waste. If you just want some interesting “Fast & Furious” facts, take a look at the video.
Vin Diesel Wants to Bring Back Failed Fantasy Hero
But there’s another character Vin Diesel would have loved to firmly establish on the big screen. As an avid “Dungeons & Dragons” fan, “The Last Witch Hunter” was his attempt to create his own fantasy universe around the witch hunter Kaulder. However, the fantasy action film didn’t fare quite as well at the box office, earning only about $150 million on a $90 million budget. However, the devastating reviews likely hit him harder. On Rotten Tomatoes, it sits at a mere 18 percent, while the audience score is slightly more forgiving at 44 percent.
The main problem was modernizing the plot, while the scenes in the Middle Ages, including Diesel’s full beard, were much more interesting and darker. Diesel might take that into account. He recently hinted on Instagram that there could be a return for Kaulder:
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Although Diesel had last mentioned three years ago that work was being done on the script, there have been no updates since then on the progress. Who knows, maybe he’ll surprise his fans in a few years. He’s done that with his other characters. If you want to give “The Last Witch Hunter” another chance, you can stream the fantasy actioner on Amazon.
As fans of the “Fast & Furious” series, can’t wait to see the big finale? Until then, you can find out if you truly belong to the most loyal fan base with this quiz.
