THE May 12 premiere of Need for Speed at Carib 5, in Cross Roads, St Andrew, will be bolstered by a car show and product display by King Midas Mufflers.

“We’re also going to be using the event to launch our new line of mufflers,” Paul Cole, managing director of King Midas Mufflers, told Auto.

Need for Speed, which stars Aaron Paul, follows a fresh-from-prison street racer, who was framed by a wealthy business associate, and who joins a cross-country race with revenge in mind. His ex-partner, learning of the plan, places a massive bounty on his head as the race begins.

King Midas Mufflers has been putting on similar displays for blockbuster premieres. The last one was the sixth instalment of Fast & Furious in 2012.

Several high-performance cars were set up outside the theatre for the fans to peruse along with displays featuring products carried by King Midas Mufflers.

“For this year, we’re adding giveaways and will have a Need for Speed videogame challenge,” said Cole.

With the success of Fast Six, American movie studios have been trying to replicate it by starting their own street-racing franchise.

In the case of Need for Speed, DreamWorks & Touchstone Pictures have opted to bring the Electronic Arts (EA) videogame franchise to the big screen. EA’s Need for Speed series began in 1994 and continues to grace computers and gaming consoles to this day as a consistent top seller. The film follows the cross-country racing storyline the videogames are known for.

— RD