Just over a month ago, it made headlines that DreamWorks was preparing to bring the moderately successful Need for Speed video game franchise to the big screen. While no one had any idea as to why they were doing this, many had the sense that the studio was preparing a Fast and Furious clone of sorts, but they needed a well-known property to give it credibility. DreamWorks previously worked with writer John Gatins of Reel Steal, so they tasked the man with developing a pitch for the film which his brother George Gatins would scribe.
Fast forward to today and we see that Variety is reporting that Act of Valor director Scott Waugh has been recruited to helm the feature. While poorly received by critics, audiences rated the film highly resulting in nearly $80 million worldwide on a shoestring budget of only $12 million. The message here is that either DreamWorks believes this director can give theater goers what they want or that they could make a low-budget franchise into a cash machine with Waugh at the helm.
Things appear to be moving rather quickly around this project, so expect to hear more about it within the coming months.