Dreamworks has obtained the rights to the popular street racing videogame franchise Need For Speed and they have sent an offer out to none other than Taylor Kitsch to star in the lead role.
Haven’t we been down this road before? This is a case of “If at first you don’t succeed, try again, then if that doesn’t work, try again, and if that doesn’t work try again.
I’ll give it to Taylor, he should take this role, but I also at the same time admonish Dreamworks, because how do they think they are going to pull this off? Kitsch is becoming reverse Hemsworth in that everything he touches turns to shit. I don’t blame him because he has the look and the requisite action chops to pull shit like this off, but who thinks this is a good idea for a movie anyway? This is Battleship territory again in which you are really trying to graft a story onto a game, that typically didn’t have one. The most they had in the way of story was you have to drive fast, but not get caught by cops. If your story is one sentence long, you should probably just not make a movie out of it.
Also, remember when Fast and Furious did incredibly well and spawned a franchise that many love? Yea? Ok now remember Biker Boyz, Torque, and all the other shit storms that tried to capitalize on the appeal of racing? They didn’t work. Fast and Furious is the only one that did and if you look over at that franchise and the action talent it has between Vin Diesel and The Rock, its clear that one movie is making the right moves. Kitsch should be very wary of putting himself in the other racing franchise even if it has a videogame fanbase and instead try to get himself inserted into Fast Six. Everyone and their mother is in it and he would at least not have to carry the film.
Need For Speed has failure written all over it. Dreamworks, Try harder.