Summary
Dominic Toretto faces his most dangerous enemy yet, Dante Reyes, who seeks revenge against Dom for the heist in Rio de Janeiro. Fast X features a star-studded cast, including Jason Momoa, Brie Larson, Rita Moreno, and more, along with surprise cameos by Dwayne Johnson and Gal Gadot. Director Louis Leterrier discusses the filming process and highlights the thrilling Rome scene and epic final set piece. The movie ends on a cliffhanger, with plans for two more films in the franchise.
Dominic Toretto faces his most dangerous enemy yet in Fast X with Dante Reyes, a monster of his own making. Dante has been studying Dom for years, ever since the heist in Rio de Janeiro, where his family’s fortune was stolen and his father was killed. Dante has been meticulously planning his revenge against Dom, which includes destroying his reputation and wiping out his family. Dom will need to team up with all of his allies and a few enemies to try and survive long enough to keep his family safe and hopefully take down Dante, whose only goal is to make Dominic Toretto suffer.
Fast and Furious stars Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Jason Statham, Tyrese Gibson, Ludacris, John Cena, Jordana Brewster, Nathalie Emmanuel, Sung Kang, Helen Mirren, and Charlize Theron reprise their roles in Fast X. Jason Momoa, Brie Larson, Rita Moreno, Daniela Melchior, Scott Eastwood, and Alan Ritchson join the Fast family in the tenth installment of this beloved action franchise. Fast X also included shocking cameos by Dwayne Johnson and Gal Gadot, whose character had up until now been thought to be dead. Louis Leterrier directed Fast X based on a screenplay penned by Justin Lin and Dan Mazeau based on a story by Lin, Mazeau, and Zach Dean.
Related: Fast & Furious Has Introduced Dom’s Replacement For After Fast 11 & 12
Screen Rant spoke with director Louis Leterrier for the home release of Fast X, as it will be available on Blu-ray and DVD on August 9. He broke down how they filmed the huge action sequence in Rome and discussed returning to the roots of the Fast and the Furious franchise. Leterrier also reveals that the Fast X cameos of Dwayne Johnson and Gal Gadot were always part of the plan.
Louis Leterrier Talks Fast X
Thank you so much for joining me, man. I love Fast X. With the availability of bonus features and special editions on the home entertainment release, what can fans expect from the extras of Fast X?
Louis Leterrier: Well, quite different. Sometimes you see scenes that didn’t make it into the movie, this time a lot of our scenes, most of our scenes, were in the movie, we tightened them. So we had to come up with something else, and we actually really wanted to do something that had never been done before, which is a true look under the hood, pun intended, of how we make these movies, and especially these action set pieces. So, with Universal Home Entertainment, we created this virtual stage, where I was able to walk around and explain how a scene was shot, and what was shot for real, what was enhanced, where the actors were, how we organized everything.
Because, so much of Fast X, Fast and Furious in general, but Fast X was shot on location, practically… In Rome, for example, with a giant ball rolling down the streets, and then we set it on fire just to make it even more complicated. And then, yeah, so we did that. I must say, I must say, Joe, that was the hardest thing I’ve ever done, to be in front of the camera, syncing my lines to a ball… This is not my job, I’m just the guy who talks to the actors, talks to the crew, and then says, action and cut. This is-
That’s what I love about home entertainment releases, because I feel like it’s a little bit like going to film school. That scene in Rome was mind-blowing, by the way. It is so cool. Can you talk about any specific scenes or sequences in Fast X that you’re particularly proud of and you would recommend watching again on the Home Entertainment release?
Louis Leterrier: Yeah. Well, absolutely. I think that Rome scene is masterful. I say this, Spiro Razatos shot it, and he’s the second unit director that has shot so many Fast and Furious movies, and the dailies he gave me, the raw material he gave me, was so incredible. And the great thing is that I was able to put the actors in it, and have them come, and then shoot some actors in Rome, doing the real thing, and that was really great. It didn’t feel like anything. I love that we’re coming back to the car and the street racing, and we did some stuff in the middle…
There’s a party and a quarter-mile run, a little twisted quarter mile run with Dante, Jason Momoa’s character, has a little secret card up his sleeve. That was fun to shoot because I was able to do some of the car stuff, visual car stuff, that hadn’t been seen in Fast and Furious for a long, long time. And then I applied this to the final set piece, that was shot by Alexander Witt, another secondary director, and that was just this opera of action.
So, it’s like, if Wagner was composing a set piece, that’s what it would be. With the Valkyrie helicopters, the cars dropping from the sky, jumping, using… That stuff is incredible, with the final coup de grâce of Dante, where he traps Dom and how Dom is able to free himself from his claws. All that stuff was just so exciting to shoot, so exciting to put together, test with an audience, see the audience reaction. We made the Fast and Furious movie we all wanted to see. The crew, the cast, myself…
The fans. I loved it.
Louis Leterrier: Yeah, we took tremendous pleasure in making this movie, I think that shows, and we wanted to welcome the audience behind the curtain a little bit, but not so much that we break the illusion. It’s still, this character still exists and it’s still amazing.
This is the only Fast and the Furious movie that really ends on a cliffhanger like this. Look, we know that there are two more movies coming out, right? Two more?
Louis Leterrier: Can’t tell.
If there are two more movies coming out, are they both mainline Fast movies, or is one of them a spinoff movie, or do we know anything about that yet? Or is it something you can’t talk about yet?
Louis Leterrier: Well, it’s not I can’t talk… I wish I knew exactly. We had plans and then the strike happened and we have to hold it until that’s resolved. But yeah, there are many characters now, many, many characters. So, we want to give true screen time, we want to pay out each character’s journey the greatest way possible. So, one movie’s not enough, two movies, let’s see, let’s keep it open. But the way we’re working, and that’s quite different from any other franchise or cinematic universe, is that we work one movie at a time.
We have the plan. We plan, we know where we’re going, but we put our best effort one movie at a time. That’s why these movies are so great, and thank you for saying that. But we put so much love and effort into one movie, because we’re really focused on this. We’re not like, we’ll give you 50% Fast and Furious movie, but the next one you’ll see, it’s amazing. No. This is 100%, and the next movie will be 100%, and the next movie will be 100%. So you really get the best of Fast and Furious movies every time you go see these movies or you get them.
After seeing that Rome scene and that end sequence in Fast X, I don’t know how you top that, Louis. So, if you’re giving me 100% for that next movie, I don’t even know what that looks like yet. That sounds incredible.
Louis Leterrier: Well, Joe, I think we have it beat.
This movie had some great cameos in it, especially with Gal Gadot and Dwayne Johnson returning. What inspired those two characters coming back, especially with Giselle being presumed dead?
Louis Leterrier: It was always in the cards; it was always planned. There’s a greater mythology that’s behind Fast and Furious, that now I literally entered this kingdom. I was the fan that just went… I met the Wizard of Oz, but the Wizard of Oz is actually a great wizard, and the Wizard of Oz knows exactly what he’s doing. And I know that plan, and that plan, this huge great arc that was thought of, and Giselle was always part of it, and Hobbs is part of it. What’s interesting now is that we all agree tonally what these movies are going to be, so we just have to, just a schedule thing now. It’s always the hard part. But yeah, we’re planning to deliver a Fast and Furious movie every couple of years.
About Fast X
Dominic Toretto must protect his family from a new threat with ties to his past. Dante Reyes, son of Hernan Reyes from Fast Five, seeks revenge against Dominic for the loss of his family fortune and the death of his father. Dominic must pull his family together to protect each other from the most volatile threat they’ve faced yet.
Check out our tour of the Fast X car supervisor’s garage and other Fast X interviews here:
Fast X is available on digital now and will be available on DVD, 4K, and Blu-ray on August 8.
Source: Screen Rant Plus