Publisher Arts Arts has almost adopted the Need for Speed video game series for a reality show.
On his YouTube channel, while serving as a technical consultant for Need for Speed: Underground, Craig Lieberman said that the idea came up to bring an EA video game franchise to TV. Lieberman has previously presented reality shows to no avail, including one on Universal Pictures called the Ultimate Streetcar Challenge. “Before YouTube took over the world, we had no choice but to watch TV if we wanted to watch videos about racing, drifting or even car building,” Lieberman recalls in the video. However, due to many cars exhibits already in production, the exhibit never got green.
Lieberman, technical advisor for Fast and Furious and 2 Fast 2 Furious, got another opportunity to show his demo while working on EA Games. While giving advice on car physics in the game and creating a replica of the Nissan R34 GTR for the game cover, production partner Lieberman secured him a meeting at Lionsgate to represent his idea. EA Games loved the idea, and the reality TV show Need for Speed began to evolve.
The show was to share its name with the Need for Speed series, which coincided with Need for Speed: Underground. Lieberman’s early ideas were based on teams working on cars and participating in various tasks. Still, this time the games themselves would inspire further challenges. These challenges included the installation of nitrous oxide or turbo systems, determination of lap times, and endurance races. The grand finale would alternate with the finalists who set lap times in Need for Speed: Underground. With a potential budget of $ 6.5 million, the eight-part series has never seen the light of day.
The Need for Speed franchise would eventually get a film adaptation about a decade after Underground’s release. Starring stars such as Aaron Paul, Dominic Cooper, and Michael Keaton, the action-packed road racing film was released in 2014. The film was co-produced by Dreamworks in collaboration with EA and released by Disney’s Touchstone Pictures. Despite critical acclaim, the film grossed over $ 200 million at the box office, nearly three times the original budget.
First released Need for Speed in 1994 for the 3DO game console, before PC, PlayStation, and Sega Saturn. Since then, the 24th in the series has released a complete catalog of the most critical Need for Speed games with the latest title, Need for Speed Heat.
