Ludacris holds nothing back in explaining why the Fast and Furious franchise still hasn't ended after over 20 years. The action movie series began as a spotlight on the street racing scene of the early 2000s before evolving to globe-trotting adventures following Vin Diesel's Dom Toretto and his crew of blood and found family. Scoring a variety of reviews across its 10 mainline movies and one spinoff, the Fast and Furious franchise is one of the longest-running and most memorable properties in the action genre.
During a recent appearance on the All The Smoke podcast for the latest installment in the series, Ludacris was asked about why the Fast and Furious cast continue to reprise their roles in the franchise. The star had a brutally honest, and very explicit, response for why, pointing towards the money it continues to pull in and saying no one's going to tell someone making "800 muthaf——n' million dollars" to stop. See Ludacris' full explanation in the quote and video below:
That's the dumbest f——ng question in the world. I'm going to tell you why. Because no matter what industry we're in; podcasts, music, movies - it's all about a bottom line. It's all about how much you spend compared to how much you make. We're making billions of f——ng dollars. Bro, and I'm saying that like, I'm giving you my heart. I'm not trying to brag or nothing. So when you say - when some of ya'll keep saying, "Why the f—k do ya'll keep shooting these movies?" Let me tell you why. 'Cause if you spend $200 million and you make a billion, who the f—k is going to tell you to stop shooting the movies when you making 800 muthaf——n' million dollars. How?
Where Fast X Sits In The Franchise's Box Office (So Far)
After enjoying years of mixed-to-negative reviews from critics, the Fast and Furious franchise saw a resurgence of interest with 2011's Fast Five, which has been hailed as the proper evolution of the movies beyond its street racing past. Its box office haul was further proof of this new formula faring well for the franchise moving forward, with Fast Five nearly doubling that of its predecessor and setting a new high for future films to be beat.
Fast Five wouldn't hold this record for long as the subsequent Fast and Furious movies would see gradually higher returns, reaching an all-time high with 2015's Furious 7 at over $1.5 billion grossed worldwide. As more recent installments have seen diminishing reviews, the box office numbers have similarly begun taking a downward turn, with 2021's F9: The Fast Saga bringing in just over $726 million, a modest haul when factoring in the global pandemic.
With just one week under its belt thus far, Fast X got off to a strong start for landing a higher spot in the Fast and Furious franchise's overall box office rankings, having grossed over $387 million worldwide. However, with it facing competition from Disney's The Little Mermaid remake, which is on track to take the No. 1 spot in its opening Memorial Day weekend, and holdover Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, and the franchise's biggest budget yet of $340 million, Fast X still has a ways to go.
Source: All The Smoke