Prepare to look at action movies a little differently, specifically the latest installment in the Fast & Furious franchise, Hobbs & Shaw. In the contracts for Vin Diesel, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Jason Statham, there are actually stipulations that they can not only never lose a fight, but also about how many hits they can give and take.
If you’ve never, ever thought about an action star’s contract before, and now regret that you have…well, join the party. In a recently published Wall Street Journal article, the details of the stars’ contracts have been revealed and the timing couldn’t be better (or worse), with H&S being released this weekend.
Among many other interesting insights, here’s what the WSJ shared:
“According to producers and crew members on the films, Mr. Statham, 51 years old, negotiated an agreement with the studio that limits how badly he can be beaten up on screen. Mr. Diesel, 52, has his younger sister, a producer on the films, police the number of punches he takes. And Mr. Johnson, 47, enlists producers, editors and fight coordinators to help make sure he always gives as good as he gets.”
We get it; no action movie superstar wants to look like a wuss, but as long as these three aren’t fighting each other, I can’t think of one time they’ve ever lost a fight in their movies. And now that Johnson and Statham will be teaming up, it’s safe to say that even Idris Elba’s ‘Black Superman’ won’t stand much of a chance. But in a time where the F&F franchise is getting its ninth installment next May, talk of a sequel set in space picking up and Keanu Reeves possibly being our next big bad, does this news about the contracts really surprise you?
It does make you wonder though, did this strangeness come from the conflict between Johnson and Diesel? Or was it simply to help sell their roles as action stars? Nobody wants to see their favorite hero ass-kicker get a total beating. Sure, maybe a few punches here and there, but when the good guys win, fans tend to leave the theaters a lot happier. And eventually come back for more.
In any case, Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw, along with its four, count ’em four post-credits sequences, is now playing and it’s got a whole lot of fight scenes for both Johnson and Statham. Just don’t expect to see either of them take too bad a beating in the film.
