After the success of the ‘Fast & Furious’ franchise, Vin Diesel is a highly sought after man. Besides working on the seventh installment of the series in the fall, he has a number of sci-fi and fantasy projects on his schedule. First, there’s ‘Riddick’ next month with potential sequels depending on how it does at the box office. Then, there’s ‘The Last Witch Hunter’ for Summit Pictures, which has been gestating for a little while. Finally, the actor is in talks to voice Groot in Marvel’s ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’. But the former New York City bouncer is looking to add another genre franchise to the mix as well.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Diesel will team with ‘Grace of Monaco’ writer Arash Amel to create an original sci-fi franchise titled ‘Soldiers of the Sun’, a tale that is “set in a post-apocalyptic future and focuses on a squad of soldiers that searches for a fabled city of gold while on a tour of duty in Mexico, liberating it from an alien race known as Orcs”. The actor is said to be wearing a few hats in this production as he’s set to both star in and produce the film through his One Race Films imprint with Samantha Vincent and Lorenzo di Bonaventura.
Universal Pictures, home of the ‘Fast’ series, scooped up this spec script with the hopes that Diesel will launch and carry another ensemble franchise for them. However, because of the many projects in the pipeline already for the star, this new franchise might have to wait a while. No timetable was given in the report, but things will likely get clearer after ‘Fast & Furious 7’ gets under way since the fate of the ‘Pitch Black’ series and the Groot situation should be figured out by then.
What do you think of Vin Diesel’s new original sci-fi series ‘Soldiers of the Sun’? Based on the brief description, do you think that it will warrant a ‘Fast & Furious’-esque franchise? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
