Fast & Furious Creator On Whether Vin Diesel Is Done
Fast & Furious co-creator shared his thoughts on Vin Diesel's Fast & Furious future.
This article is more than 2 years old
Though the pandemic delayed movie many theater releases, F9 was released this past summer. At the time, major studios were reluctant to release their expected hits, especially exclusively in theaters. Despite all the reasons the movie could have flopped, the blockbuster still pulled in over $716 million at the worldwide box office. It’s results like these that make Vin Diesel’s Fast & Furious franchise stand apart from other movies out there today. Marvel, DC, and Fast & Furious are franchises that pull in results other movies just don’t expect to see. Despite this huge success, everyone involved in the current series claims that audiences can expect two more movies in the main storyline, and then it’s over. But is that the truth?
Gary Scott Thompson is one of the original co-creators for the franchise. From his viewpoint, there’s just no chance that Fast & Furious is ending any time soon. While his viewpoint doesn’t like he knows anything specific, he does have a good point, and it comes from someone with some experience on the inside of the franchise. In his interview with MovieWeb, Thompson shared that he feels Vin Diesel and Fast & Furious will go on as long as the studio can keep it alive.
I don’t think they see the ending that I saw, but I don’t think they see an ending either. It’s making too much money. Universal Execs have said, “Thank you for creating our Marvel Universe”. They are competing with Marvel. It’s like the only movies getting made out of our studios lately are Marvel, Disney, Fast & Furious, or D.C. Comics. These films cost a lot of money so they want to make a lot of money. They will write it until it dies.
Gary Scott Thompson Talking to MovieWeb
Will Fast & Furious actually end after movie number 11? As much as the studio and Vin Diesel say that, it’s hard for many to believe. Gary Scott Thompson says that they will “write it until it dies”, but does that really mean there may be a Fast & Furious 12 on the horizon? If the eleventh movie is a huge hit and earns more than a billion dollar at the box office, can we really expect Universal Studios and Vin Diesel to let that go?
So far, what the studio has said is that while the main storyline will end with number 11, there will be more spinoffs on the way. Those spinoff projects may or may not include Vin Diesel. No one is making any promises. F9 introduced more backstory for Dominic Toretto (Diesel) and characters like John Cena, which introduces even more room for spinoffs or even prequel projects. Of course, spinoffs and prequels are often known to do better while a main series in a franchise is still ongoing. If they end the main franchise, will those projects do as well? Vin Diesel has proven to be a large part of the draw for the main series of movies. If they end those movies like they claim, won’t Vin Diesel have to appear in the spinoff projects in order to keep the same draw for fans?
There’s no telling what the studio or Vin Diesel will really do after the release of Fast & Furious 11, but the series co-creator certainly has a point when he says that franchises like that aren’t something a studio is willing to let go of. While Vin Diesel has been talking about many other projects he might want to sign on for that could take him away from his role as Dominic Toretto, that kind of role is a hard thing for an actor to recreate elsewhere and may prove too difficult to let go of.
The tenth Fast & Furious movie will begin filming in early 2022. Vin Diesel has suggested that 10 and 11 may be filmed back to back, particularly since the two movies will be tightly connected. He’s said that the movies will be two parts of the same story, bringing the main storyline for the franchise to a close. Fast & Furious 10 is expected to release on April 7, 2023.
