As the finish line inches closer, Fast Forever, the next entry in the Fast & Furious franchise, is revving up its writing engine. Franchise star and producer Vin Diesel revealed that the newest member of the family, Michael Lesslie (The Hunger Games prequels, Now You See Me: Now You Don’t), has been tapped to write the script for the film.
Taking to Instagram, the actor shared a black-and-white photo of himself conversing with Lesslie, which recaptured the feeling of “a story within something real beating inside it.”
“25 years. Eight directors. Countless writers, crew members, performers, each one giving something real to a saga that has outlasted trends, cynics, and time itself,” Diesel began his caption. “That doesn’t happen by accident… It happens because people show up and pour themselves into something bigger than any one individual,” reads the caption.
Diesel added, “There is a particular weight that comes with delivering a finale. A responsibility you feel in your chest, to everyone who gave something to get here, to the audience that stayed,” Diesel continued. “You don’t take that lightly. You take it as fuel. And when you find out you’re going back to Los Angeles… back to the streets where it all began, something clicks into place. The city that made the first film feel alive, still here, still holding. Coming home to close it out right. That’s not logistics. That’s a gift.
Given that Fast Forever will be the penultimate send-off, there certainly are big shoes to fill. The 25-year-old franchise has collectively grossed US$7 billion globally across all of its mainline titles and the spin-off feature Hobbs & Shaw, becoming Universal’s most profitable and longest-running series to date. There’s also a five-year gap between its release and that of Fast X, the longest since debut.
No other details were announced, and it’s unclear if Louis Leterrier, who replaced Justin Lin as director on Fast X, remains at the helm. However, it’s safe to assume that legacy cast members Michelle Rodriguez, who plays Dominic’s wife Letty Ortiz, Tyrese Gibson (Roman Pearce), Ludacris (Tej Parker), Nathalie Emmanuel (Ramsey), Sung Kang (Han Lue), Jordana Brewster (Mia Toretto), Jason Statham (Deckard Shaw), and Charlize Theron (Cipher) will all reprise their roles.
Fast Forever drifts into theatres on 17 March 2028.
Si Jia is a casual geek at heart – or as casual as someone with Sephiroth’s theme on her Spotify playlist can get. A fan of movies, games, and Japanese culture, Si Jia’s greatest weakness is the Steam Summer Sale. Or any Steam sale, really.
Kevin Low
