- Title: USA: AMERICAN FILM PREMIERE OF ACTION ADVERNTURE MOVIE "THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS"
- Date: 8th June 2001
- Summary: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES (JUNE 8) (REUTERS) SMV (SOUNDBITE) (English) VIN DIESEL SAYING We did some training. We did some racing school stuff in Las Vegas. We did some stunt driving preparation in the parking lot in Dodger Stadium out in L.A. We did some research by doing out to some of these illegal races that existed in L.A. So, you know, we kind of got ready for the character and kind of geared up for the film that way. SMV (SOUNDBITE) (English) RICK YUNE SAYING It was an adrenaline rush. I mean, the speed that these things go, from zero to sixty in one-point-five seconds, it makes you feel like, you know, you're alive. I mean, in a lot of ways, it's like an aphrodisiac because once you get hooked, you can't turn back. SMV (SOUNDBITE) (English) PAUL WALKER SAYING I was brought up around cars and I was pretty familiar with the import car scene. I wasn't really a big fan at that time, you know, but I knew about them. You know, I could point out any car and tell you what it is, pretty much, or you could point out a car and I could tell you what it is, you know? I pride myself on that. Just a bunch of empty knowledge, you know what I mean?
- Embargoed: 23rd June 2001 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA USA
- City:
- Country: USA
- Topics:
- Reuters ID: LVA2QPJ0OV66RY74AWQ78JOC7DAU
- Aspect Ratio:
- Story Text: Universal Pictures has lifted the speed limit on the already fast-paced summer movie season with the World Premiere of their new action-adventure film "The Fast and the Furious"
in Los Angeles.
Due to its unusually high pre-release tracking responses, Universal Pictures is predicting its latest action-adventure "The Fast and the Furious" will be the surprise sleeper hit of this summer.
Without any A-list names in the cast, studios executives are hoping the lure of high-speed, high-adrenaline action and a sexy, young cast will be enough to get movie-goers to turn out in droves.
The film, directed by Rob Cohen, is set against the backdrop of high-stakes illegal import street racing, a sub-culture that fascinated Cohen when he was researching the script in Los Angeles.
His cast includes "The Skulls" star Paul Walker as a racer and undercover cop, "Saving Private Ryan" co-star Vin Diesel as the leader of a pack of fearless octane-junkies and gear-heads, tough-talking "Girlfight" ingenue Michelle Rodriquez as his girlfriend and fellow speed demon, and former Calvin Klein model turned actor Rick Yune as the leader of a rival pack of racers.
Besides exploring the world of street racing, the film also features a criminal sub-plot about a series of sensational big-rig hijackings.
In preparation for the film, the actors attended high-speed driving and stunt driving schools in Las Vegas and practiced in the parking lot of Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.
The experience turned many of them into novice racing enthusiasts themselves.
"The Fast and the Furious" opens in theaters throughout the United States on Friday, June 22.
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