`Fast and Furious 6’ stars to visit Manila

VIN DIESEL, Paul Walker and Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson return for the sixth edition of the series.

Just after hosting some of the memorable stunt and car chases from the movie “Bourne Legacy,” another action-packed movie is about to hit the local screens with the upcoming “Fast & Furious 6.”

And Manila will be the venue for a major promotion with the film’s lead action star, Vin Diesel, along with fellow stars Michelle Rodriguez, Gina Carano and Luke Evans, producer Neal H. Moritz and director Justin Lin arriving here. Select foreign press from around the globe have also been invited.

Diesel reprises his role as the lead character Dom Toretto in the popular movie franchise that brought the underground world of street racing to international spotlight in 2001, when the first film was loosely based on a story published on a magazine titled “Racer X” that talks about racing street cars late at night.

While the sixth installment of this blockbuster will have a number of familiar faces and the usual explosive stunts and car chases, there will be a new set of fast cars which are also considered “stars” of the movie as well.  Diesel is joined by Paul Walker, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Jordana Brewster, Tyrese Gibson, Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, Sung Kang, John Ortiz, Gal Gadot and Elsa Pataky. Rodriguez plays a comeback-from-the-dead role as Diesel’s girlfriend Letty. British actor Luke Evans from “Clash of the Titans” plays the role of the villain as Owen Shaw. In the movie trailer he shows off his impressive car collection and is pitted against Vin Diesel with Letty in Shaw’s team.

New, different plot

So how is the new plot different from the rest?

“After watching ‘Fast 5’ in Rio, at the international premiere last year… Paul (Walker), who has been on this journey with me since 1999, leans over and says, you know, the best one is still in the can,” said Diesel.

SUBARU Impreza STI hatchback doing a two-wheelie stunt

Despite the pundits and critics, the first FF movie grossed over $200 million in the worldwide box office with a production budget of a mere $38 million. In the last movies (“Fast Five”), world box office figures exceeded $600 million while production budget as about $125 million.

One of the biggest challenges in the movie is the stunt coordination involving some 300 cars almost all of which ending up totally destroyed. The film’s picture car coordinator Dennis McCarthy is the man for the job. Among these cars are a heavily customized 1969 Dodge Charger Daytona, the Ford Escort Mark I (they allegedly rebuilt seven units with only one unit surviving), the 1973 Jensen Interceptor, 1969 Ford Mustang plus some more current model cars like the BMW E60 M5, 2010 Dodge Challenger, Subaru Impreza STI hatchback and a couple of Ferraris (F430 and 360 Modena). The built-from-scratch “Flip Car” buggy was also used as stunt cars during the chase and heist scenes, it features a 500 horsepower LS3 engine using a customized monster truck steering.

The 2-day event will offer a chance for select journalists to conduct one-on-one interviews with the cast and director. This will all be happening at the star-studded premiere of the “Fast & Furious 6” movie at the SM Mall of Asia on May 15. The Manila leg will be part of a talent world tour that includes stops in other global cities including London, Beijing, Seoul, and Cabo San Lucas.

Aside from the premiere, a car show will be organized to welcome the stars and guests at SM Mall of Asia on the same date.  The car show highlights will include a mini concert and a drifting exhibition.  This event is organized by Ladder Events Production, producers of the highly successful Bumper to Bumper Carshows, Metro Rides, Hotter Summer Nights Carshow and Hot Import Nights Manila. “Fast & Furious 6” is a United International Pictures Release through Solar Entertainment Corp. The film will be released in theatres across the Philippines on May 24.