Chances are, you’ve seen at least one of the 11 films produced as part of the Fast & Furious franchise, and you may have even known that there’s a 12th pending in 2028. The franchise has become of the highest-grossing film series in history. And it’s celebrating an anniversary today.
The iconic cast, including the late Paul Walker as Brian O’Conner, first assembled over 25 years ago and changed the course of the car-film landscape as we know it. The original “The Fast and the Furious” premiered in Los Angeles on June 18, 2001, and hit theaters nationwide a few days later on June 22.
The rest, as they say, is history. Leading up to the F&F debut, “import tuner” car-culture had gained some serious momentum in the 1990s, due in large part to the popularity of sport-compact coupes like the Acura Integra, Honda Prelude, Nissan 200SX, and Toyota Celica. Mitsubishi was vying for a piece of the pie, too, and its Eclipse was a formidable contender.
In particular, the second-generation (1995-99) Eclipse evokes nostalgia for me and for my family. Back in 1999, my brother’s girlfriend drove the above-pictured white Eclipse GS that had period-correct modifications. Notice the chunky 18-inch chrome Niche wheels that likely impeded performance instead of enhancing it. Under the hood, I recall that the car had a cold-air intake, and on the interior, the gauges had been upgraded to white-faced “Indiglo” units.
If cars like the Eclipse were already on a roll in the late 1990s, then Fast & Furious accelerated that roll even more. Many people have gone on to create detailed replicas of cars from the films. I was able see the pink Honda S2000 from “2 Fast 2 Furious” when I visited the Honda campus for an event last June.
To date, the F&F franchise has grossed over $7.4 billion. The top-earning film was “Furious 7” (2015) which brought in $1.5 billion globally. The next installment in the franchise will be officially titled “Fast Forever,” and Universal Pictures has scheduled it for theatrical release on March 17, 2028.
I look forward to checking it out, and I’d love to see a (now-classic!) second-gen Mitsubishi Eclipse in it making a reprise.
