| Diesel Won't Fuel 'Fast 2' April 29, 2002 By Michael Fleming NEW YORK (Variety) - Universal's sequel to the street racinf hit "The Fast and the Furious" will not be Diesel-Fueled, after all. The film will be built around Paul Walker's cop character Brian O'Conner, after the studio broke off talks late last week with Vin Diesel to reprise his role as Dominic Toretto in the film. Also a scratch at the starting line is the film's original director Rob Cohen, who just helmed Diesel in the Revolution summer actioner "XXX" and would do a sequel only if Diesel was part of the package. Money appeared to be a major reason that Diesel is out, although sources close to the actor said he backed out purely for creative and not financial reasons. It's understood that Diesel, who was paid about $2.5 million for the original film, put a request on the bargaining table that would have not only brought the sequel salary to the $20 million range, but also would have retroactively elevated his hard-fought payday of $12.5 million on the "Pitch Black" sequel "The Chronicles of Riddick" to the same price. This time, Universal decided to bet that Walker, who's currently toplining the Richard Donner-directed "Timeline," can carry the sequel to hit status without Diesel. "Fast and the Furious 2" will star Walker as a cop stripped of his badge who's recruited to infiltrate the Miami street racing circuit in an effort to redeem himself. Walker will be paid a low- to mid-seven figure salary to reprise his role when shooting begins in October. Universal Pictures chairman Stacey Snider confirmed that "The Fast and the Furious" sequel will be made with only Walker's character leaving the starting line. "We feel the brand of this film is attitude, cars and hip casting," Snider said, "and that it is not dependent on star casting. We always allocate resources to extend brands, but this wasn't really on my creative radar because it's so hard to create sequels that are better than the originals. "You always expect a torturous development process, but (screenwriters Michael) Brandt and (Derek) Haas turned in a bang-up first draft that provides a great intro for Paul. ... They wrote modular stories, one that could have gone with Dominic Toretto (Diesel) and one without him." Universal and Diesel are still all-systems-go on "Chronicles of Riddick." Universal has brought in Oscar-winning "A Beautiful Mind" screenwriter Akiva Goldsman to do a rewrite and will seek A-list talent to shoot the film later this year. Diesel and his reps at Endeavor and the Firm have not been shy about seeking big numbers even though he has just begun establishing himself in the international marketplace. When Diesel tried to hike his $2.5 million price to $10 million for "XXX," Revolution execs drew a line in the sand at about $7.5 million. Instead of caving, Diesel went on vacation. By the time he returned, Revolution paid his $10 million asking price, a decision that now seems sound, given that the film is shaping up as a summer entry eminently marketable to the young audience that helped turn "Furious" into a huge hit. |