Vin Diesel set to star in a movie based on a video game starring... Vin Diesel.
Like this, but fleshier.You know, after the miserable and 100% deserved failure of The Chronicles of Riddick, and the continued downward spiral of The Pacifier and Babylon A.D., I was pretty sure Vin Diesel's time in the spotlight was done. It seemed like he was transitioning smoothly into the second phase of his Jean-Claude Van Damme/Stephen Seagal-style career around the time that Midway first announced that Wheelman was being developed as both a movie and a video game simultaneously, a venture that I figured would go the same way as the aborted Spy Hunter movie that was going to star The Rock. The game got released, complete with a digital Dwayne Johnson, but the movie never got past the teaser poster.
Then, last month, Vin somehow pulled the hat-trick with Fast and Furious, The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena, and Wheelman, three properties that performed well enough to put him back in the good graces of people who like gruff, stoic one-liners and mindless entertainment in general. Now Variety is reporting that Paramount is ramping up production of The Wheelman the movie, with John Singleton, a director best known for his work on Boyz n the Hood and, uh, 2 Fast 2 Furious, attached to direct.
So you've got the star of The Fast and the Furious, the director of its sequel, and a premise that basically sounds like The Fast and the Furious Gaiden. Sounds like a winner to me!
Like this, but fleshier.You know, after the miserable and 100% deserved failure of The Chronicles of Riddick, and the continued downward spiral of The Pacifier and Babylon A.D., I was pretty sure Vin Diesel's time in the spotlight was done. It seemed like he was transitioning smoothly into the second phase of his Jean-Claude Van Damme/Stephen Seagal-style career around the time that Midway first announced that Wheelman was being developed as both a movie and a video game simultaneously, a venture that I figured would go the same way as the aborted Spy Hunter movie that was going to star The Rock. The game got released, complete with a digital Dwayne Johnson, but the movie never got past the teaser poster.
Then, last month, Vin somehow pulled the hat-trick with Fast and Furious, The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena, and Wheelman, three properties that performed well enough to put him back in the good graces of people who like gruff, stoic one-liners and mindless entertainment in general. Now Variety is reporting that Paramount is ramping up production of The Wheelman the movie, with John Singleton, a director best known for his work on Boyz n the Hood and, uh, 2 Fast 2 Furious, attached to direct.
So you've got the star of The Fast and the Furious, the director of its sequel, and a premise that basically sounds like The Fast and the Furious Gaiden. Sounds like a winner to me!
"Vin Deisel's Best performance, though short, was in Saving Private Ryan.."
Did you ever see Find Me Guilty? Great flick, and Vin is surprisingly good in it. In fact, Vin isn't that bad of an actor. He's just kinda...dull as an action hero.
I heart Vin Diesel (no homo). He's the one guy in Hollywood I would love to meet and hangout with. And since I kind of look like him, I'm going to be Riddick for next Halloween.
Vin Diesel wrote and directed an awesome short film called Multi-Facial, this is what got Spielberg interested in him and how he got a part in Saving Private Ryan.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXAPWSybacg
That's a short clip from the 20 minute film. The whole thing is on YouTube, but if you wanna just get a preview, check this out. It's a good monologue.
While I never saw Boyz n the Hood, I liked 2 Fast 2 Furious. It wasn't as good as it's predecessor, but it was fun movie none the less. Here's to hoping that this will be an equally solid flick and better than the mediocre game it's based on. Cheers.
For Jean-Claude Van Damme haters out there, I propose you watch JCVD (no really that the name of the movie).
The storyline is basically real-life Jean-Claude Van Damme is in Belgium basically going back home when he is mixed-up in a bank robbery for which he is blamed.
Its likes Being John Malkovich, although with more drama (being JCVD pas marital problems, acting problem, drug uses, etc.).
Well I think Ryan's remark regarding Vin Diesel was a bit over the top . Babylon A.D and The Chronicles of Riddick were both great movies . Vin may not be very good when it comes to game production but the fact that Ryan does not like the guy is not indicative of Vin Diesel's incompetence . After all he is one of the very few Hollywood stars who take video games seriously . Wheelman was not a successful game but the movie may turn out to be awesome !!!
Babylon A.D. has a sudden-stop ending which I really doesn't like, but the action scene on New York is pretty intense which I really like. Fast and Furious is a true return of Vin Diesel and the movie franchise. I hope the movie version of The Wheelman gonna be decent. Making it live up to the excellent xXx from Rob Cohen is quite a hard task.
Vin Diesel is just one of those actors that you should hate but can't bring yourself about doing so. His movies are entertaining but nothing great, lets hope he delivers it with Wheelman.
He was good in Boiler Room too. I think he's an underrated actor that is usually limited (and somewhat unfairly judged) by the shitty roles he ends up with.
