Full-Throttle Franchise

When the first <i>Fast & Furious</i> film<i></i>was released in June 2001 few predicted that it would be a box office hit let alone the launchpad for a multi-billion-dollar franchise. A mid-budget crime movie set around L.A.'s underground car-racing scene featuring a cast of relative unknowns the film became one of the surprise hits of that summer earning more than 5 times its budget in worldwide ticket sales. 2 decades and 9 films later <i>Fast & Furious</i> today ranks among the 10 highest-grossing movie franchises of all time with a box office total of $6.6 billion and has also given rise to an animated TV show and theme park ride.<br/><i></i><br/><i>Full-Throttle Franchise</i> is the first book to offer an in-depth analysis of the <i>Fast & Furious</i> bringing together a range of scholars to explore not only the style and themes of the franchise but also its broader cultural impact and legacy. The collected essays establish the franchise's importance in cinematic and ideological terms linking their discussions to wider issues of genre representation adaptation and industry. Topics range from stardom and performance focusing on key actors Vin Diesel and Dwayne Johnson to the way in which <i>Fast & Furious</i>intersects with dominant ideas of racial gender and sexual identity.<br/> <br/>Aimed at both scholars and fans <i>Full-Throttle Franchise</i>seeks to uncover just what has made <i>Fast & Furious</i>so enduringly popular mapping its outrageous set pieces ever-expanding universe and growing cast of global megastars in terms of wider cultural and industrial forces. <b></b>