As you probably know, Hollywood’s approach tovideo game adaptationshas greatly changed over the last decade, and projects likeThe Last of UsandThe Super Mario Bros. Movieonly existed in fans' wildest dreams back in 2014. In order to make the video game adaptations more “palatable” for audiences, studios tended to make them only loosely connected to the source material, andNeed For Speedwas one of the titles that suffered so many alterations thatthe story became barely recognizable to fans.
Critics also weren’t madly in love withNeed For Speed: The movie scoreda pretty low 23% averageonRotten Tomatoes. Comparisons with theFast & Furiousfranchisewere inevitable, and critics stressed that the video game adaptation paled in comparison because it didn’t take risks. Back when it premiered,RogerEbert.comcriticOdie Hendersonwrote that the movie’s script opts for “a safe, wimpy simplicity that insults the viewer,” and that it’s so “full of contrivances and coincidences” that the experience is ruined.
The Curious Case Of TheNeed For SpeedBox Office Performance
Despite the bad reviews,Need For Speedended up becoming the representative of a curious phenomenon: it flopped on its domestic box office but had a decent performance in other countries. The biggest surprise wasthe movie’s performance in China, where it raked in over $66 million — more than the all-time performance in North America — and took the movie’s global performance to over $200 million. Back then, the surprise hit was enough tofuel conversations about a sequel, which hasn’t happened to this day.
When speaking about the movie, co-starImogen Poots(Vivarium)was blunt about her regret of being a part of it and stated that it ended up becoming the sort of project that teaches you to trust your gut:
“I knew that it wasn’t right, and I knew making the film that it just didn’t reflect anything that I really deeply kind of valued. And that’s a kind of lesson that you learn and you’re able to say, ‘Okay, that’s that kind of movie and there are people out there who love that film, but I don’t really understand why, so it makes more sense for me to choose different projects.”
Need For Speeddebuts on Max on September 1.
Need For Speed
