Vin Diesel's Perfect Act
31 August 2001
Rising star Vin Diesel believes his time as a Hollywood bouncer has made him the man he is today. The Pitch Black actor is a perfectionist who takes his work deadly seriously, and worries that other actors may think he is just being difficult. The strapping actor who recently hit box office gold with The Fast And The Furious says, "I am adamant about perfection and do take work very seriously, so in the face of 'Just tell me where to stand' actors, I guess I'm difficult." Diesel, who had a part in Saving Private Ryan, can't stand boring movies, "I care about making the most of the film and I want people to get as excited as I am. Pitch Black could very easily have been Supernova... am I right? The reality is films can be bland all the time unless there are people who are adamant about making it real."
 

Readers Furious Over Critic's Review
9 July 2001
New York Daily News film writer Jami Bernard, who slammed The Fast and the Furious in her review, only to see it become perhaps the most profitable movie of the year, today prints some of the responses to her review -- grammar and spelling left intact. ("No wonder they had no quibbles with the dialogue," she writes.) Samples: "This movie does not need non of all you critics stupid criticism So all you critics should just keep your mouths shut and not critic this movie, because it is a GREAT MOVIE!" "The movie is about a lifestyle your femenist moron. Your opinion is for a middle aged society I also urge you before you flame back with comments that you understand that I have 2 college degrees."
 

Diesel Puts His Foot Down For Romance
3 July 2001
Love was in the air on the set of the The Fast And The Furious. Co-stars Vin Diesel and Michelle Rodriguez did not have to act too much to play lovers in the hit drag-race movie. The rough-and-tumble couple fell for each other on the set, and their relationship heated up in recent weeks. Rodriguez, who shot to It Girl status as the star of Girlfight, was canoodling Diesel at Float on Thursday night. The next morning, she told shock jock radio host Howard Stern that Diesel "will be a part of my life for a very long time."
 

Vin Diesel Studied For Racing Role
28 June 2001
American actor Vin Diesel is dazzling audiences with his high speed escapades in his new movie The Fast And The Furious, but he had to go to school to learn how to look so cool. Diesel attended stunt-driving school in Las Vegas, Nevada, for his role as a streetwise racer in the movie, so that he could look convincing. But the star found the experience all too gruelling. He says, "School started at 6am, and I'd be just getting back to my hotel room thinking, 'How can I at least make it look like I slept?'" Diesel plays the king of the Los Angeles street-racing scene. The film follows his uneasy friendship with a new kid on the block, who turns out to be an undercover cop.
 

Race-Car Film Earns Smokin' $40.1 Mil
26 June 2001
Universal's The Fast and the Furious got off to a start that lived up to its name as it earned $40.1 million at the box office over the weekend, beating out 20th Century Fox's Dr. Dolittle 2, starring Eddie Murphy, which placed second with $25 million. Last week's box-office leader, Paramount's Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, dropped to third place with $19.8 million -- a 59 percent plunge. The sixth week of DreamWorks' Shrek managed to add another $10.4 million to its total, which now stands at $215.2 million.
 

The top ten films for the weekend, according to studio estimates compiled by Exhibitor Relations: 1. The Fast and the Furious, $41.6 million; 2. Dr. Dolittle 2, $26.7 million; 3. Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, $20.2 million; 4. Atlantis: The Lost Empire, $13.2 million; 5. Shrek, $11 million; 6. Swordfish, $7.7 million; 7. Pearl Harbor, $7 million; 8. Moulin Rouge, $3.8 million; 9. Evolution, $3.6 million; 10. The Animal, $3 million

Lawmen Relax, No Copy-Cat Race Drivers
25 June 2001
Although some law-enforcement officials had expressed concern about The Fast and the Furious inspiring copy-cat street racing, no reports of any such races materialized over the weekend. According to the British entertainment site Ananova, police in the U.K. and Ireland have already begun to prepare strategies to deal with hot-rodders when the film opens there later this year. It said that, among other things, police will patrol parking lots near theaters to keep an eye on drivers who might want to mimic the movie. A message is posted on the film's website saying, "All of the racing stunts in The Fast and the Furious were performed in a staged environment by professionals with years of training and experience. Please do not try any of these yourself. Be smart. Drive safe. Be legal."