Yahoo News Fast X director suggests more movies after Part 2: 'Many roads will lead us to the end'
The road to the end of the Fast & Furious franchise just keeps getting longer.
After Vin Diesel announced that Fast X is going to be a two-parter, with the next film coming in 2025, he dropped the bomb that it might actually be a trilogy. Now the current architect of the franchise, Fast X director Louis Leterrier, is pouring gasoline on the fire of those claims, suggesting that there may be more movies coming after the upcoming 11th installment, which was previously said to be the final film in the saga.
"Let's see what this one does," Leterrier tells EW about Fast X's box office returns. "You know what's beautiful about this franchise is that the audience gave the love and then the franchise kept growing and delivered for the fans, but also surprised them. Don't shove it down people's throats, but give people what they love. So let's see [what happens next]."
Peter Mountain/Universal Pictures
Leterrier admits "it's hard to give an answer" to whether Fast X Part 2 will be the conclusion to the franchise. "I mean, who knows? Two years ago we didn't think that movies would ever exist anymore," he explains. "Knock on wood, count my lucky stars that we're making giant movies that now are being seen by millions of people around the globe. It's amazing, and I'm so happy that we're part of this summer where it feels like the excitement for movies is back."
But now that Leterrier has officially signed on to direct Fast X Part 2, he promises that "there will be an ending," though he won't say whether it will be the ending. "I know where the franchise ends and I know where the problems are in the 25 years of consequences that led up to that moment," he says. "But there are many ways to get there. Many roads will lead us to the end."
He also warns that Part 2 is going to be emotionally resonant, perhaps more than what people may be expecting. "As a fan, you will love the ending and you will cry," he adds. "Part 2 is going to be a sad one. It's going to be beautiful, and I'm so happy I'm doing it."
As for that whole "Part 2" thing: Fast X truly is Part 1 of the story. Leterrier joined Fast X after filming had already begun, as former Fast director Justin Lin shockingly left the project. Leterrier took the wheel weeks later, so the story was already developed when he signed on. "The script was fantastic and finished on this cliffhanger, which I thought was amazing," he says. "I love the structure of the movie, which is like a reversed Fast & Furious movie where you start with the barbecue, where you start with the good times, and then you go downhill."
Peter Mountain/Universal Pictures Vin Diesel and Daniela Melchior in 'Fast X'
Leterrier says he knew from the start that Fast X would be two films — he just didn't know he would be directing both until recently. That's why he wanted to put everything he had into this movie. "Fast X is like my magnum opus," he says.
Leterrier did end up changing things from Lin's original script, saying, "It was not fully working."
"My first task was, 'Can you rewrite the third act?' So I wrote my version of the third act. But as I was writing the third act, I was like, 'If you do this, we need to change the first act a little bit.' And as you write the third act and the first act, well, you have to rewrite the second act. So, basically, I changed everything."
He laughs before clarifying, "Justin's script was very strong."
"I loved it," he says. "It was all about the details, and also we're creating characters that never existed, so these things are fluid and they evolve. As Jason Momoa [playing Fast X villain Dante] comes on set, you can write him on the page, but then he will bring something else, so then you have to follow that lead and keep evolving. The script was always a fluid thing, but I had a very strong grasp on it and I knew the direction I was heading towards, especially because it's Part 1 of the ending. It's the beginning of the end."
Fast X hits theaters this weekend.
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