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10 Behind The Scenes Facts About Fast 9

With a budget of $225 million, an immeasurable amount of star power, and gravity-defying stunts, Fast & Furious 9 has become arguably the biggest blockbuster event of 2021.

RELATED: Fast & Furious 9 10 Ways Dominic Toretto Has Changed From The First Movie
Fans are so thrilled about the movie that they’ve been showing their excitement by creating hilarious memes, but it didn’t become this much of a zeitgeist without some trials and tribulations. Between stunts that were cut from the movie, having to keep secrets from loved ones, and even auditioning cars, the development of the movie sounds like almost as much of a circus as the movie itself.

The Director Refused To Use CGI Cars

The rocket car being tested in F9

Director Justin Lin, who helmed four other movies in the franchise as well as F9, refused to use CGI cars. The director argues that, given that audiences see cars in everyday life all the time, then anything that’s computer-generated, even the smallest part of the car, would look off to the viewer.
However, using CGI would be a lot more cost-effective, as the Fast and Furious series has destroyed over a thousand cars at this point, which surely adds up to a pretty penny.

The Decision To Use The Old Universal Pictures Logo

Split image of the 1989 Universal logo and Dom driving in F9

The first surprise of the movie comes before it even properly starts, as the Universal logo isn’t the flashy computer-generated image that has been used for years now, but is instead the logo from the late ’80s.
The studio made the decision to use the old logo because the opening scene is set in 1989, the day after Dom’s (Vin Diesel) father dies. It isn’t the first time that the series has played around with the Universal logo either, as in 2 Fast 2 Furious, the logo transforms into the wheel of an SUV.

Sung Kang Didn’t Even Tell His Wife He Was Returning As Han

Mia and Han pursue Otto's henchmen in Fast 9

In Fast & Furious 6, it was revealed that Han (Sung Kang) was killed by Shaw all the way back when his car exploded in The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, but nobody ever stays dead in the F&F series. Han somehow returns in F9, but as he’s one of the most beloved characters of the series, Kang and Lin wanted to keep his role top secret.
RELATED: Fast & Furious 9 The 10 Best Characters, Ranked By Story Arc
This meant that the actor wasn’t allowed to attend any birthday parties of the actors on set, but more alarmingly, Kang didn’t even tell his wife that he was returning to the role. But it all worked out for the best, as it’s the best surprise of the movie, even if it does lessen one of the most tragic deaths of the series.

Helen Mirren Was Embarrassed To Drive With Vin Diesel

Helen Mirren in F9

As the all-star cast of the Fast & Furious series continues to mount with every consecutive release, one of the most surprising additions to the cast for Fate of the Furious was Helen Mirren. She didn’t have much to do in the eighth movie, but in F9, she’s actually in on the action.
But according to Mirren, it wasn’t that easy. The actress can be found driving around with Diesel in the new movie, and she said it was intimidating with him in the passenger seat, but she still managed to enjoy it, mostly because she loves his voice.

Vin Diesel Wasn’t Sure About Taking The Saga Into Space

Fast and Furious 9 Tej and Roman in space car

Though it would never have been expected in 2001 when The Fast and the Furious was first released, as it simply started out as a street racing series, sending the franchise into space was just a natural progression.
But surprisingly enough, after jumping through skyscrapers and taking down giant submarines, Diesel wasn’t completely convinced about going to space. His first reaction to the idea was, “No, no, no, no, no,” but it wasn’t long until the thought of it gave him a Cheshire Cat-like grin.

Letty And Mia Share Their First Scene Together Thanks To Michelle Rodriguez

F9

According to Jordana Brewster, Michelle Rodriguez is so committed to the character of Letty (Rodriguez) that she’ll refuse to do anything if she doesn’t think it’s in her character, but that was taken up a notch for the production of F9.
Rodriguez complained that Letty and Mia (Brewster,) the two strong female characters, have never had any screen time together, and she demanded that their ‘sisterhood’ be explored in the ninth movie. Luckily, Lin was all for it and it shows on screen.

John Cena Hid His Cross Necklace Whenever He Wasn’t Filming

Jakob and Dom point their guns at each other in F9

It has been clear for a while now that Jakob (John Cena) is Dom’s brother, who he is tasked with hunting down. But it was a cat that the director didn’t want to let out of the bag too early, just like with Han’s return.
RELATED: 10 Best Video Games Like Fast & Furious, Ranked By Metacritic
In the movie, Jakob wears a giant crucifix necklace, and as Dom is often seen wearing a similar necklace, if anybody saw that, they would have easily been able to put two and two together. So during production, Cena would quickly hide it or give it to someone when the camera wasn’t rolling. He explains that it was the last part of wardrobe that he would put on, and the first part that he would take off.

The Cars Had To Audition For The Movie

Behind the scenes image of the shooting of the land mine scene in F9

When it comes to this franchise, it isn’t just actors who have to audition for roles in the movies, but according to Diesel, the cars have to audition too.
The actor explains that the cars that each of the characters drives are such important representations of who they are, so it only makes sense to audition them. And to Diesel’s credit, ever since the first movie, the cars in the Fast & Furious series are as much characters as Dom and Letty are.

John Cena Did (Most Of) His Own Stunts

Vin Diesel and John Cena in F9

Ever since he began his wrestling career, Cena has been prone to performing his own stunts, and for the most part, that what happened with F9. It isn’t the first time that an actor has performed their own stunts in the series, as Paul Walker would often take it upon himself to be his own stuntman too.
But when being asked about it, Cena hilariously mentioned that he isn’t as bothered as others about doing it all himself, claiming that he isn’t looking for validation on his masculinity.

A Weather Balloon Stunt Was Cut

Dom's car gets slingshot in F9

With F9 taking the series into space, that almost wasn’t enough for director Justin Lin, as there was a stunt that the studio demanded that he cut. The director wanted a weather balloon to take the Pontiac Fiero into the outer atmosphere.
According to Lin, the reason why the stunt didn’t happen is simply that the budget kept inflating. He even says that, looking back at it, he probably would have even paid for it himself if he was afforded a redo.
NEXT: Fast & Furious 10 Actors Who Would Be Perfect As The Next Villain

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Fast & Furious 11 Release Delay & Filming Start Date Confirmed By Director

Summary

Fast and Furious 11
is facing a release date delay to Summer 2026 due to strikes, with director Louis Leterrier confirming the sequel will not be hitting its April 4, 2025 date.
Leterrier also confirms that filming starts in Fall 2025 after finishing a horror movie in September.
The final installment in the
Fast Saga
reunites Vin Diesel’s Dominic Toretto for one last ride, while also leaving the door open for other spinoffs.

After facing multiple delays due to the 2023 SAG-AFTRA and Writers Guild of America strikes, Fast and Furious 11 is seeing its release date delayed. The next installment in the Vin Diesel-fronted franchise is expected to be the last mainline sequel, while development continues on the Dwayne Johnson-led spinoff Hobbs & Reyes, a mysterious standalone movie penned by Fast X’s Zach Dean and a potential female-led spinoff. While a filming start date was never confirmed, Universal had previously set the movie for an April 2025 release date.

During a recent interview with Collider at a CCXP MX panel, Louis Leterrier was asked for an update on Fast and Furious 11. The director went on to confirm that the final mainline installment in the action franchise will no longer be making its April 4, 2025 release date, instead now aiming for a Summer 2026 release window with the filming start date being set for this fall. Check out what Leterrier said below:

It’s happening. It’s happening very, very soon. I’m able to shoot a little horror movie this summer. I’m finishing my horror movie on September 15th, and I start Fast on September 16th.

Will Fast 11’s Multiple Delays Help Or Hurt The Sequel?

Much like the tenth film before it, Fast and Furious 11 has faced a few behind-the-scenes hardships in its road to getting off the ground, namely the delays stemming from the 2023 strikes. While the latest movie seems to have retained its core creative team in comparison to the shift in directors from franchise vet Justin Lin to Leterrier on Fast X after reported creative differences between the former and Diesel, this change didn’t seem to help much with the continued downward trend recent sequels have seen from critics. Check out how the franchise’s Rotten Tomatoes scores compare below:

Title RT Critical Score RT Audience Score The Fast and the Furious 54% 74% 2 Fast 2 Furious 37% 50% The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift 37% 69% Fast & Furious 28% 67% Fast Five 78% 83% Fast & Furious 6 71% 84% Furious 7 81% 82% The Fate of the Furious 67% 72% Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw 67% 88% F9: The Fast Saga 59% 82% Fast X 56% 84%

Even looking outside the Fast and Furious franchise, many movie sequels have found themselves hurt by various delays, be they from creative changes, general release shifts or other factors. The action genre in particular is one in which lengthier development periods can lead to diminishing returns, be it A Good Day to Die Hard, Rambo: Last Blood or Diesel’s own xXx: The Return of Xander Cage. While Fast and Furious 11 may only be getting pushed back by a year, the delay is nonetheless a concern that the final installment could find itself in trouble.

Dom Toretto (Vin Diesel) looking angry with Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) looking unimpressed in Fast & Furious

Related 10 Most Exciting Things To Expect From Fast 11 Fast & Furious 11 will pull all the strings to become bigger than the previous installments, and here is why the film is worth being excited about.

On the other hand, the longer wait for Fast and Furious 11 to close out the mainline series of movies could actually prove beneficial for the sequel. Though Leterrier may be busy with another project in the lead-up to filming the next installment, writers Oren Uziel and Christina Hodson should now have more than enough time to really look back at the script and ensure it learns from the critical missteps of recent installments to deliver a satisfying conclusion to the Dominic Toretto saga.

Source: Collider

Fast and Furious 11 temp poster Fast and Furious 11 Fast and Furious 11 is the final movie in the Fast Saga. It reunites Vin Diesel’s Dominic Toretto with the rest of the cast for one last ride. However, the franchise is open for spinoff films like Hobbs & Shaw afterward.Director Louis Leterrier Release Date April 4, 2025 Distributor(s) Universal Pictures Writers Christina Hodson , Oren Uziel

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Vin Diesel Already Has His Perfect Fast & Furious Replacement Franchise With 51-Year-Old Remake

Summary

Vin Diesel’s dominance in Fast & Furious is ending, but Kojak could kick off a new action franchise for him.
Kojak’s reboot faces an uncertain future, but its similarity to Fast & Furious makes it a worthy project for Diesel.
Diesel’s potential shift from criminal racer to cop signifies a fresh start in a possible Fast & Furious-like series.

Vin Diesel’s days of playing Dominic Toretto are numbered, but the actor has already found his perfect Fast & Furious replacement. Diesel found a major breakout role in the early 2000s thanks to participating in The Fast and the Furious. The original 2001 street racing crime movie became the springboard for a sprawling franchise that has lasted for over two decades. The success of the Fast & Furious movies transformed Vin Diesel’s career, turning him into an even bigger star, especially in the action movie genre. But, Fast & Furious 11 is planned as the final chapter for him and the franchise.

The Fast & Furious franchise’s end will put Vin Diesel in an unfamiliar position of not having a major franchise to lean back on. This presents the actor with various options, such as changing the course of his career to pursue non-franchise roles. However, the more likely outcome is that Diesel will attempt to find a new IP that can replace Fast & Furious. He has had trouble in that regard recently, with franchises like xXx or Riddick running cold and Bloodshot and The Last Witch Hunter failing to launch franchises. There is another option for Diesel, though.

2:03 Vin Diesel as Dominic Toretto from The Fast & Furious Franchise

Related Vin Diesel May Have Spoiled Fast & Furious 11’s Ending With $2.7 Billion Movie Comparison Dom’s death happening in Fast & Furious 11 may have been spoiled already, with Vin Diesel comparing the upcoming movie to another big franchise.

Kojak Can Be Vin Diesel’s New Action Crime Franchise After Fast & Furious
Diesel Has Been Developing The Reboot Since 2015

The impending conclusion of the Fast & Furious franchise means it is finally time for Vin Diesel’s Kojak reboot to get off the ground. The project was announced back in 2015 with Diesel re-teaming with Universal Pictures, the studio behind Fast & Furious, to develop a movie based on Kojak. The original TV series starred Telly Savalas as Theo Kokaj and ran for three seasons after debuting in 1973. The series revolves around Kojak, a New York detective known for being willing to go beyond the law and a love for cars and lollipops, and follows him as he investigates different cases.

Kojak was rebooted in 2005 as a TV show starring Ving Rhames, but it only ran for six episodes

Development on Vin Diesel’s Kojak movie has not been very active in the nine years since it was announced. However, it still maintains the base similarities to Fast & Furious, which makes the project a worthwhile endeavor for Diesel in terms of finding a new action franchise. He would now have another big action series about cars and crime, essentially making Kojak into a newer version of Fast & Furious. The irony here is that Diesel takes on the role of a cop after playing criminal racer Dominic Toretto.

Vin Diesel’s Involvement Can Morph Kojak Into A Major Action Franchise
Kojak Could Be A Fast & Furious Clone
Telly Savalas talking on the phone in Kojak

Looking at the original TV show, Kojak might not necessarily project to be a major blockbuster action franchise akin to Fast & Furious. The TV series was relatively grounded and small due to the nature of its production. However, the fact that Diesel and Universal pinpointed this property as something they wanted to revive together is telling. The announcement of Kojak’s reboot came months after Furious 7 debuted in theaters and took the franchise to new heights at the box office and in terms of how ridiculously big the action and story could get.

It’s sometimes difficult to remember that Fast & Furious started off with a story about DVD thieves who were also street racers before Diesel helped turn it into something much bigger. With that experience and success already behind him, it would be understandable if a similar path was envisioned for Kojak. The series could then morph into a Fast & Furious clone, one that gives Vin Diesel a new franchise to headline and Universal a “fresh” action franchise to grow.

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The Rock’s WWE Run Means Fast & Furious 11 Must Make 1 Major Hobbs Change

Summary

Hobbs from Fast & Furious 11 needs a gritty edge like The Rock’s WWE character to keep the franchise fresh and exciting.
The Rock’s time away from the Fast & Furious universe provides the perfect reason for Hobbs to return with a personal vendetta and a more savage attitude.
While Hobbs shouldn’t become a full-fledged villain in Fast & Furious 11, adding some edginess and dirty tricks could make his character more intriguing and dynamic.

Fast & Furious 11 must make one major Hobbs change after The Rock’s incredible WWE run. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s WWE return surpassed his recent movies, with the actor creating some of the best work of his career. Having returned to a thunderous reception, The Rock was able to flip the crowd’s reception by becoming a heel and playing a major part in WrestleMania’s main events. The Rock hasn’t played a villain on screen for years, as even his depiction of Black Adam lent more into the character’s anti-hero side, which made his wrestling run all the more refreshing.

While his wrestling character may not perfectly translate into the Fast & Furious universe, there is one aspect of The Rock’s WWE run that the franchise should attempt to implement. After debuting in Fast Five, The Rock’s best Fast & Furious scenes helped contribute to the movie series becoming so popular, with Luke Hobbs becoming an instrumental part of the story. He was even given his own spinoff alongside Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham) and is set to get a solo movie in the future. Despite this, Hobbs would still benefit from adding one key aspect of The Rock’s WWE run.

The Rock’s WWE Run Proves Fast & Furious 11 Needs To Give Hobbs More Of An Edge
Fast & Furious Would Benefit From Hobbs Adopting Some Of The Rock’s WWE Tendancies
Dwayne The Rock Johnson in Black Adam, WWE, and Hobbs and Shaw

Given how electrifying The Rock’s recent WWE run was, there is no doubt Fast & Furious 11 needs to give Hobbs more of an edge. Although the character has had his more serious moments, like most of the Fast & Furious cast, Hobbs tends to mix action with comedy. Hobbs and Shaw are supposed to be two of the more stoic heroes, yet they are constantly at each other’s throats and cracking jokes to help maintain the franchise’s lighthearted core. However, giving Hobbs a grittier side would help the character thrive upon his return.

The Rock’s Fast & Furious return may redeem Fast X’s box office, but the character needs to come back stronger than ever. By allowing him to be more ruthless, he can still maintain some elements of comedy but also become more interesting in the process. Johnson proved that despite being a detestable heel, he was still as hilarious as ever during his recent WWE tenure. This proves that he can maintain Fast & Furious’ tone and humorous style while being more layered; therefore, Hobbs adopting some of The Rock’s WWE characteristics could make him even more entertaining.

Fast & Furious Already Has A Reason For Hobbs To Be More Savage
Hobbs Has Been Away From The Franchise For Several Years

Making a major change to Hobbs’ character could be tough to explain, but Fast & Furious 11 already has a great reason to make him more savage. His four-year absence from the franchise gives him a perfect excuse to come back with a vengeance and potentially have a personal attachment to Fast & Furious 11’s villains. Hobbs’ time away from the main story could be explained through a connection to Fast X’s secondary villain, Aimes. Aimes’ villain twist in Fast X was well executed and suggests he’ll be around for the sequel, which is the perfect reason to bring back Hobbs.

Having a more personal story with one of the villains could allow Hobbs to continue his great quips and one-liners, but it would also give him more of an edge.

Fast X never explained why he’s back, but having a personal vendetta against Aimes could be an intriguing reason. Given Dom and Dante are the focal point of the franchise’s conclusion, Hobbs returning to take down Aimes would avoid overshadowing the main story while still giving him an interesting role. Having a personal story with one of the villains could allow Hobbs to continue his great quips and one-liners, while also giving him more of an edge. This provides The Rock with the perfect reason to implement some of his heel traits while still portraying a morally good hero.

2:34 Image 147 Related Predicting The Ending Of All 13 Fast & Furious Characters In Fast 11 The Fast Saga is set to conclude with Fast & Furious 11 – or Fast X 2 – but how will Dom Toretto and his family’s stories come to a definitive end?

Why Fast & Furious Can’t Bring The Rock Back As A Villain
Hobbs Already Appeared As An Antagonist In Fast Five
A custom image featuring Dwayne Johnson as Luke Hobbs in the Fast and Furious movies Custom image by Debanjana Chowdhury

Although The Rock’s villainous tendencies worked well in the WWE, Fast & Furious can’t bring him back as an antagonist. Johnson already played the main villain of Fast Five, as Hobbs was originally an enemy of Dom and his crew before becoming an ally. Hobbs’ role in Fast Five was one of his best, but despite being the main antagonist, he always had a level of integrity. Dropping all of this to make him a villain in the final movie would be completely unnecessary, especially as the franchise needs him to remain a hero for his spinoff.

Fast & Furious 11 may end the main story, but The Rock will be part of the franchise beyond this, and altering his character so drastically wouldn’t make any sense. Instead, adding some extra edge to his character would have the same effect and would avoid stealing the thunder from Dante and Aimes. Although Fast & Furious 11 shouldn’t make him a villain, the film can still allow Hobbs to play dirty and pull some cheap tricks in order to show a grittier side, while letting him taunt his enemies when he inevitably helps save the day.

Fast & Furious 11
is scheduled to be released in theaters on April 4, 2025.

Fast and Furious 11 temp poster Fast and Furious 11 Fast and Furious 11 is the final movie in the Fast Saga. It reunites Vin Diesel’s Dominic Toretto with the rest of the cast for one last ride. However, the franchise is open for spinoff films like Hobbs & Shaw afterward.Director Louis Leterrier Release Date April 4, 2025 Distributor(s) Universal Pictures Writers Christina Hodson , Oren Uziel

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