For a while, there was a rumor. A silly rumor, as you will. But a fun rumor nonetheless. It stated that one day, the Fast and Furious franchise might consider crossing over with the Jurassic World series. There’s no reason for this, outside of the fact that they are both Universal Studios properties. Also, seeing Dominic Toretto racing a T-Rex would be the most incredible achievement in cinematic history. The casts of the series got involved in the chatter, but everyone kind of knew it was a joke. But I still had to keep the gag going when I got to sit down and talk Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves with the great Michelle Rodriguez.
Rodriguez is best known for playing Letty in multiple Fast & Furious movies, “dying” but coming back into the fold because she’s forever a member of the family. In Dungeons and Dragons, she’ll trade her motorcycle for a flaming axe to play warrior Holga, who helps keep her crew alive on their various quests. So I gave her an option. Would she like to write Letty into a future Dungeons & Dragons movie? Or would she like to see her brutal Holga tearing it up in the Fast & Furious world. And Michelle Rodriguez told me:
I’d say drop Holga into the next Fast and Furious. (laughs) It’s a lot more interesting! I think she would be lost without her crew, man. I think we’d need to open a portal from the Dungeons world into one of these franchises. I think there’s nowhere to go once you reach the top in these tentpoles then to merge.
We got to see Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves early. Here's our take on the new movie!
Hence, Hobbs and Shaw. Usually these types of team ups are reserved for comic-book movies. Three actors who have played Spider-Man at different stages of their career share the screen in Spider-Man: No Way Home, for example. But I can’t think of a solid example of an actor jumping into one of their existing franchises while playing a new character that they just introduced.
Also, as much fun as this sounds like it could be, Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves is a Paramount release, while the Fast franchise belongs to Universal. They’re not going to share their toys any time soon. Just like WB isn’t going to sell the SnyderVerse to Netflix, so stop asking!
Now, dropping Holga into a Top Gun or Mission: Impossible movie? That should very much be on the table. Are you listening, Hollywood? Or, reverse engineer this, and add Ethan Hunt to the next DnD film. Why am I giving these ideas away for free?
Dungeons and Dragons rolls into theaters this weekend, and rides a wave of positive buzz following its premiere at the SXSW film festival. It will be competing against John Wick: Chapter 4 for eyeballs, but is expected to get off on a strong foot, and possibly be the beginning of a fruitful franchise. We shall see.
