![]() On talk shows, on SNL, and even on his Twitter feed, Paul and Pinkman were indistinguishable from one another. While he was brilliant as Walter White’s sidekick, Paul had sublimated himself to the “YEAH, BITCH!” zone a little too much. ![]() I was already worried about Paul’s post–Jesse Pinkman career, and the ads for Need for Speed only intensified my concern. Like most people, I first heard about Need for Speed via promos that aired during the tail end of Breaking Bad’s final season, way back in the fall of 2013. And yet, here we are, talking about Need for Speed more than a year later because it’s somehow relevant again. Now, I actually kind of enjoyed Need for Speed, which is neither “good” nor “so bad it’s good” but rather somewhere between “good enough to pass the time” and “bad enough to never recommend.” It’s the kind of movie you stumble into watching one night and don’t ever expect to speak of publicly. But it’s hard to imagine a better offer coming from someplace else. It’s not a done deal yet: DreamWorks, which holds the sequel rights, still has to sign off. If the involved parties get their way, the budding franchise will skip its 2 Need 2 Speed installment and go directly to Need for Speed: Shanghai Drift. About $66 million was earned in China, which explains why three Chinese companies who previously teamed up to finance Transformers: Age of Extinction are looking to set Need for Speed 2 in their home country and populate it with native actors. But Need for Speed pulled in more than triple that amount internationally, for an overall take of $203 million. If you live in America, you probably didn’t see Need for Speed - it did mediocre business Stateside, grossing $44 million against a budget of $66 million. UTA represents the Chinese partners and Electronic Arts.Last week, Electronic Arts and a consortium of Chinese investors announced plans to make a sequel to 2014’s Need for Speed, a widely dismissed and thoroughly disreputable car chase movie starring Aaron Paul based on EA’s popular video game. If a final deal can be struck, production would begin later this year. The creative team has not yet been announced. The third partner, 1905 Pictures Co., is a Chinese film development company that worked with Paramount on promotion and marketing of the last “Transformers” film, which grossed a record $330 million in China.Īs an official co-production with the Chinese companies, the film would have ready access to that frenetically-growing market. Jiaflix president Marc Ganis predicted the launch of “one of the next great franchises for movie fans around the world.” His company was founded by Ganis, Kenneth Huang and Sid Ganis, former president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences. “We are also delighted that much of ‘Need for Speed 2’ would be filmed in China, and we believe it will include much more Chinese talent and elements.” “We are excited to work with EA, one of the world’s most recognized creative companies,” said Yin Cao, chairman of China Movie Channel. The gamemaker plans to release new “Speed” console and mobile games this year. The films play off the wildly popular videogame, which has grossed more than $4 billion in retail sales over the last two decades.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |