A street-racing film built on real driving rather than computer effects, a $203.3 million worldwide gross and reviews that were largely negative.
Directed by Scott Waugh, this 2014 picture stars Aaron Paul as a street racer who sets out to avenge his friend's death. It grossed $203.3 million worldwide, but reviews were mostly negative and Michael Keaton played the host Monarch.
Need for Speed is a 2014 action crime film drawn from Electronic Arts' racing video game series, and it follows a mechanic from Mount Kisco, New York, who sets out to avenge his best friend. Directed by Scott Waugh, the film leaned on practical car work rather than digital effects. It took $203.3 million worldwide on a $66 million budget, although most critics were unimpressed.
What is the story of Need for Speed?
Tobey Marshall runs his late father's garage and is pulled into a rivalry with Dino Brewster, a former racer. After a deadly race, Tobey is jailed, then released to race across the country and settle the score. The film closes with a final race along the Pacific Coast Highway.
Dino recruits Tobey's crew to finish a rare Ford Shelby Mustang that Carroll Shelby once worked on, in exchange for 25% of the car's sales revenue. Tobey proves on a track that the car is as fast as he claims, and Julia Maddon, an English car broker, arranges its sale to her client Bill Ingram for $2.7 million.
Dino then challenges Tobey and his friend Pete to a race, offering to hand over his entire share of the sale if Tobey wins. On the home stretch he rams Pete's car into a ravine, where it bursts into flames and Pete dies. Dino vanishes from the scene, and Tobey is sentenced to two years for involuntary manslaughter because he cannot prove Dino was there.
Released on parole, Tobey borrows Ingram's Mustang to enter the De Leon, a high-stakes supercar race run by the reclusive host Monarch. Ingram insists that Julia ride along, and the pair have 45 hours to reach San Francisco before the race starts.
The journey brings an interstate chase with the Michigan State Police in Detroit. Dino then offers his rare Lamborghini Sesto Elemento to anyone who can stop Tobey, which sends a group of truckers after the Mustang. In Utah the truckers force the car off the road, and Benny, a former National Guard soldier in the crew, flies a stolen military helicopter that carries the Mustang to the Bonneville Salt Flats. Benny is arrested in the process.
On Nob Hill, a tow truck driven by one of Dino's henchmen smashes into the Mustang and injures Julia. Tobey turns to Anita, Pete's sister and Dino's fiancee, who gives him the location of Dino's hidden Koenigsegg. Tobey and crew member Joe recover it, and Tobey reaches Julia at a hospital, kisses her and tells her the replacement car is for Pete.
In the final race along the Pacific Coast Highway, the other racers and the pursuing officers crash out one by one, leaving Tobey and Dino side by side. Dino tries to ram Tobey the way he killed Pete, but Tobey dodges, and Dino crashes and flips. Tobey pulls him from the wreckage, punches him to avenge Pete, and finishes the race before both men are apprehended. Dino is eventually convicted of Pete's murder.
Tobey is released after 178 days, and Julia meets him at the prison gates in a 2015 Ford Mustang. The couple then drives to Utah to collect Benny, who is being released early for good behaviour.
A street-racing film built on real cars and real stunts, and still found little favour with critics.
Which cars appear in Need for Speed?
The film is built around a small group of exotic and performance cars, and most of them were replicas made for the production. The table below lists the vehicles that carry the plot, from the Mustang that starts the story to the Ford that ends it.
| Vehicle | Role in the film |
|---|---|
| Ford Shelby Mustang | Rare car finished by Tobey's crew; sold for $2.7 million; wrecked on Nob Hill |
| Koenigsegg Agera R | Three cars illegally imported from Europe, used in the race that kills Pete |
| Dino's hidden Koenigsegg | Recovered by Tobey and Joe after the Nob Hill crash |
| Red Koenigsegg | Tobey's car for the final race, tied to the night Pete died |
| Lamborghini Sesto Elemento | Dino's offered prize for anyone who could stop Tobey |
| Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren 722 Roadster | The only exotic car not built as a kit replica |
| Ford F-450 'The Beast' | Modified 2011 truck driven by crew member Joe |
| Cessna 182 | Light aircraft owned by Benny, who can fly small planes and helicopters |
| 2015 Ford Mustang | The car that collects Tobey from prison |
How were the cars made for the film?
The filmmakers avoided computer-generated imagery in the chase sequences and used practical effects instead. All of the exotic cars except the Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren 722 Roadster were kit car replicas, and the cast received intensive driving lessons before the chase scenes were shot.
Development and castingDreamWorks Studios committed to a film based on the video game series in July 2012. Brothers George and John Gatins wrote the script, which was being shipped to studios by April 2012, and the release date was later set for March 14, 2014.
Taylor Kitsch was first offered the lead in July 2012, but the role went to Aaron Paul that October. Paul had auditioned for the part of Dino Brewster, yet director Scott Waugh and DreamWorks head Steven Spielberg cast him as Tobey instead. Imogen Poots joined as the female lead the same month, and Michael Keaton was cast in February 2013.
Filming locations
Principal photography began in Macon, Georgia, in mid-April 2013. Road Atlanta in Braselton, Georgia, was used on May 12, 2013, and Campus Martius in Detroit, Michigan, hosted filming from June 1, 2013.
Production also used California's Highway 1 north of Point Arena and the Point Arena Lighthouse.
Music, release and home media
Nathan Furst composed the score, which Varese Sarabande released on March 14, 2014. Interscope Records issued a separate four-song EP on April 8, 2014, featuring Aloe Blacc, Jamie N Commons and Kid Cudi. Linkin Park's Roads Untraveled, from their 2012 album Living Things, also appears in the film.
A trailer appeared on iTunes on September 25, 2013, and the world premiere took place at the TCL Chinese Theatre on March 7, 2014. Walt Disney Studios released the film under the Touchstone Pictures label on March 14, 2014, in selected 3D, IMAX, 4DX and 2D theatres.
Home media followed on August 5, 2014. The video game Need for Speed Rivals added cars from the movie through downloadable content on March 11, 2014.
How much money did the film make?
Need for Speed grossed $203.3 million worldwide against a production budget of $66 million. About $43.6 million came from North America and $159.7 million from other countries, where China was the largest territory with $66.2 million in total earnings. Its opening weekend in China earned $21.1 million.
The film topped the North American box office on its opening Friday with $6.7 million, but finished third over the three-day weekend with $17.8 million. Outside North America it debuted in first place with $45.6 million and held that position for a second weekend.
How did critics respond?
Reviews were largely negative. Rotten Tomatoes recorded an approval rating of 23% from 186 reviews, and Metacritic gave the film 39 out of 100 from 38 critics. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave it a B+, and several reviewers still singled out the car chases for praise while others found the plot and characters weak.
Michael Phillips of the Chicago Tribune gave the film 2.5 out of 4 stars and said its best thrills recalled the Fast & Furious franchise. Betsy Sharkey of the Los Angeles Times said the film, at two-plus hours, fell painfully short of the game's energy. Jason Torchinsky of Jalopnik called it a glorified car commercial for the 2015 Ford Mustang.
A.O. Scott of The New York Times praised the chases and described the film as a lively, unpretentious B movie. Danny Korecki of The Drive suggested it might have worked better as a television series.
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