The Fast and Furious movies has been occupying the big screen (and theme parks) since back in 2001, so it's already been well over two decades of the action/adventure property. Following Fast X's ending, fans have been looking forward to the 11th and final movie of the beloved IP. But Fast Forever has taken a long time, and Vin Diesel recently posted a video from the set thanking the fandom for their patience. Hey, that's what family is for!

What we know about Fast Forever has been limited, but fans are excited to see how Dom and the rest of the crew conclude their story... especially after the Fast X credits scenes brought back multiple characters. But cameras are finally up, and Diesel took to his Instagram to share a video of love for the fandom. Check it out below:

While hardcore Fast and Furious fans might be looking to the background to try and glean what might be going on in the eleventh and final chapter in the franchise, it's also heartening so see how much the Guardians of the Galaxy director appreciates the audience. Moviegoers have grown up with Dom Toretto and the rest of The Family, and are seemingly invested in Fast Forever despite the wait.

With a car (appropriately) in the background, Vin Diesel shared how much it's meant to have the support of the Fast and Furious community over the years, but especially in the wait since Fast X hit theaters. In his words:

Fast X (which is streaming with a Peacock subscription) planed some thrilling narrative seeds, which is a big reason why the wait for the next movie has felt so long. At the end of the movie Gal Gadot's Gisele surprisingly appeared, and is the latest seemingly dead character who has turned up alive. But the cherry on the top was Dwayne Johnson, who returned to to the flagship series after starring in his spinoff Hobbs & Shaw.

Later in the same clip, Vin Diesel shared even more love for the fans, saying:

The pressure is definitely on for Diesel and company to land the plane, and give the Fast and Furious saga a satisfying ending. The franchise has come a long way over the years, going from a movie about street racing to a full-blown action extravaganza. I mean, they even went to space. So it should be fascinating to see what the final adventure ends up being, and if the whole Family survives.

All will be revealed when Fast Forever hits theaters on March 17th, 2028. Since it's not on the 2026 movie release list or even 2027's the fandom is going to have to continue being patient. Luckily Vin Diesel appreciates them.

When Fast & Furious fans witnessed the cliffhanger conclusion of Fast X back in summer 2023, the assumption at the time was that a follow-up was right around the corner… but you know what they say about assumptions, right? The future of the franchise was held in limbo for a few years following the blockbuster, but now, wheels are finally turning with the development of Fast Forever. Not a lot is presently known about the upcoming sequel, as lips are being kept sealed, but Donna Langley, chair of NBCUniversal Entertainment, has at least confirmed one key detail about the project: it will be set where the whole epic saga began.

The executive talks about the project in a recent interview with Variety, though she makes it very clear that there is far more that she can’t say about the movie than she can. There are a lot of questions swirling around following the Fast X ending regarding certain characters’ fates and resurrections of others, but she wouldn’t spill the beans about anything, instead deferring to star Vin Diesel, who is known to post about personal news on his Instagram. Said Langley,

Will Dom Torretto and his son survive the wall of water and rocks set to rain down on them from the dam blown up by Jason Momoa's Dante Reyes? Are Roman (Tyrese Gibson), Tej (Chris "Ludacris" Bridges), Ramsey (Nathalie Emmanuel), and Han (Han Lue) still alive after their plane exploded? What can we expect from the return of Luke Hobbes (Dwayne Johnson)? How is Gisele Yashar (Gal Gadot) still alive? Donna Langley isn’t saying anything right now.

The one thing she does talk about is the Los Angeles setting of Fast Forever. Since the release of Fast & Furious: Tokyo Drift and the evolution of the franchise that started with Fast Five, the focus of the series has been more global, but the tenth sequel will bring the story back to Southern California and the focus back to the culture that launched everything. Langley explained that production will take place on location in Los Angeles, saying,

There is still a lot of time before the film needs to be in production. Fast Forever isn’t dated for this year or next year, but instead for the year after that – as the project has planted a flag in a March 17, 2028 release date. We’ll surely hear a lot more about what to expect from the blockbuster between now and then, so keep checking back here on CinemaBlend for all of the latest updates.

We finally got some news about the last Fast and Furious film, and it's big. After quite a bit of waiting, Vin Diesel revealed the official release date for the franchise's finale, and he seemingly shared the title too.

Posting a photo of Paul Walker handing him a set of keys, Vin Diesel took to Instagram to share this big update about the long-awaited final Fast and Furious movie. Writing about how these flicks have "defined us and become our legacy," the Dom actor closed out his update by revealing the movie's release date and what seems to be the title:

Well, there you have it. As we work through the 2026 movie schedule, it's been revealed that the eleventh movie in the Fast and Furious franchise is seemingly titled Fast Forever, and it will premiere a little over two years from now, on March 17, 2028.

Now, Fast X was released back in 2023, which means five years will have passed between it and Fast Forever. Back in 2024, Louis Leterrier, who directed the last movie, said he thought Fast 11 would come out in 2026, to honor the 25-year anniversary of the franchise. However, in 2025, reports came out about alleged reasons why Fast Forever was in limbo. So, the release window for this movie had become a little unclear.

However, now it’s solidified. According to Vin Diesel, who is constantly hyping up the Fast movies, it will be released a little over two years from now.

This comes about seven months after Diesel said that the late Paul Walker's character Brian might return for the final Fast movie. According to the actor (via THR), he said he'd make the film under the conditions that it brought the franchise back to LA, returned to "car culture," and reunited Dom and Brian.

Now, while it's unclear how exactly Brian will come back, we do know that the final Fast and Furious movie will be filmed in LA. Back in early 2025, amid the tragic LA wildfires, the Dom actor pledged that “Fast will finally return home.”

Considering The Fast and the Furious took place in LA, this feels like the perfect place to close out the story. And using the title Fast Forever feels perfect too. Diesel told the AP back in 2021 that “all good things should” come to an end, and he noted that this franchise’s conclusion felt like a “deserved” one. So, I’m sure they have something very special planned.

Now the wait is really on for Fast Forever, and as we learn more about it, we’ll keep you posted. However, if there’s one thing I know about all this, it’s that family is forever.

One of the biggest twists from 2023’s Fast X wasn’t something from the movie itself, but rather its production in real life. Just one week into filming, Justin Lin, who’d directed five of the previous Fast & Furious movies, departed the blockbuster, resulting in Louis Leterrier taking over helming duties. At the time, it was reported that this move stemmed from “creative differences” with franchise lead Vin Diesel. Now new details have come out about why Lin left Fast X, and they come with some wild reveals about scrapped plot points involving Jason Momoa’s Dante.

In an excerpt from Indiewire for the unauthorized book Welcome to the Family, which releases this week and covers the history of the Fast & Furious franchise, it’s mentioned that a “key source of discord” between Justin Lin and Vin Diesel, as well as actor’s sister/fellow producer Samantha Vincent, “centered around the script and its ending.” Specifically, there were drafts of the Fast X script where it was revealed that Dominic Toretto’s son, affectionately referred to as “Little Brian,” was actually the biological son of Dante, the movie’s main antagonist. While some thought this was “the perfect, if deeply dark, way,” for Dom to grapple with the concept of family, in that he’d be protecting a boy who wasn’t biologically his own, others, including Diesel, didn’t approve of the twist.

So had this made it into the final version of Fast X, that means that Little Brian’s biological mother, the late Elena Reves, would have had a thing going with Dante Reyes. I’m not sure how this would have worked on the Fast & Furious timeline considering that Elena got pregnant with Brian sometime prior to Fast & Furious 6, when she and Dom were still an item, and after Dante had already been injured during the bank vault heist sequence depicted in Fast Five. Also, I find it hard to believe that Elena would have gotten romantically involved with Dante since he was the son of crime lord Hernán Reyes and she was one of Rio’s few incorruptible police officers.

On top of all this, Welcome to the Family also shares that Justin Lin and Universal disagreed over the former’s idea for Fast X’s final action set piece, which would have “involved Dante using a giant excavator-like machine to wreak havoc.” Going this route would have propelled the movie’s production budget even higher, and Alexander Witt, a second-unit director who worked on Fast X, had this to say about the kibosh being put on this sequence:

I agree with the sentiment of this sounding too Transformers-y, although like Witt noted, the final action sequence still ended up being a CGI fest, so one could argue it was a lateral move. In any case, eventually a “heated closed-door meeting” with Universal convinced Justin Lin he needed bow out of directing Fast X. As noted in the book, this stands out from previous instances of directors leaving major movies, like Phil Lord and Chris Miller on Solo: A Star Wars Story and Bryan Singer on Bohemian Rhapsody, because Lin left on his own accord instead of being fired by the studio.

Justin Lin was still credited as a producer on Fast X, but his time with the franchise is now over. He returned to the filmmaking space with Last Days, which premiered on the 2025 movies calendar last month, and he’s set to direct the film adaptation of Keanu Reeves’ BRZRKR for Netflix. Fast & Furious 11, which Louis Leterrier is returning to direct, still doesn’t have a release date, but Vin Diesel posted an optimistic update about its progress several weeks ago.

It’s been a few years now since a Fast & Furious movie roared into theaters, as Fast X opened in cinemas back in the spring of 2023. That latest installment was touted as the first chapter of a two-part conclusion and, since then, fans have been waiting for developments on the final flick. Vin Diesel has been hyping the project at different points over the last few years. It seems, however, that there are a few major variables keeping the concluding chapter of the FF saga from pulling out of the garage, if some sources are to be believed.

What’s Reportedly Keeping Fast & Furious 11 From Happening?

This past summer, at FuelFest (an event celebrating the FF movies), Vin Diesel appeared and not only declared that the eleventh film would still happen but that three specific things would happen. Diesel claimed the film would return Dominic Toretto and. co to Los Angeles, shift the focus back to street-racing culture and bring back the character of Brian O’Conner. (The late Paul Walker famously played O’Conner until his death in 2013.) However, a source tells The Wall Street Journal that a script has yet to be locked in.

Unnamed individuals also allege to WSJ that members of the Fast & Furious cast have yet to sign deals to return for the final film. Additionally, it’s said that a release date has still yet to be determined by Universal Pictures, the studio that owns this automobile-centric IP. Executives are, however, still willing to move forward with production, according to the insiders. However, the powers that be will apparently only give the green light if one key aspect of production changes.

Execs purportedly want the filmmakers to find a way to make FF11 in a more affordable manner compared to the more recent installments. Back in 2023, Fast X didn’t fare well at the box office, as it finished its run with a global haul of $705 million against a reported budget of around $340 million. The Louis Leterrier-directed film became the fifth highest grossing movie of that year, but it also marked the FF franchise’s lowest haul at the box office in a decade. With that, execs reportedly want a $200 million budget for Fast 11, so that even if the BO total isn’t super high, the film could still theoretically turn a profit. However, per WSJ, the current script for Fast X: Part 2 would cost about $250 million to produce.

Fast & Furious 11’s reported problems coincide with a shift in Hollywood that’s seen a number of massive franchises see lower returns at the box office in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. The landscape is changing, with even director James Cameron discussing how he’s trying to make Avatar 4 and 5 more affordably. So, while these details aren’t confirmed, the notion of Universal wanting to be more fiscally conscious when making the latest FF movie isn’t far-fetched, given the state of the industry.

What Have Vin Diesel And His FF Co-Stars Said About Closing Out The Franchise?

Over the years, Vin Diesel has been one of the biggest proponents of the Fast & Furious franchise, and he’s shown no lack of enthusiasm when talking about the final film. Even ahead of FuelFest, in November 2024, Diesel shared a BTS tease of what appeared to be filming for the eleventh film. This past January, Diesel also re-affirmed his desire to film in LA, as a means of bringing business to the city. Even this past week, Diesel shared a cryptic Instagram post about "returning to the streets."

Meanwhile, the rest of the Fast cast has spoken generally about concluding the franchise. Mia Toretto actress Jordana Brewster wants to return to the roots of FF by telling a “gritty” story set in Los Angeles. Ludacris – who plays Tej Parker – is also looking forward to ending the series on a high note, and the rapper-turned-actor also believes the franchise could still expand past Fast 11.

The priority right now, though, seems to be getting that final installment in the main Fast & Furious series off the ground, though. All in all, insiders give the impression that there’s a mutual desire to make the movie, though there just has to be common ground on the budget. Even if the franchise does get back to its roots by filming in the streets of LA, that could be pricey given how it's become expensive to film in the city. We’ll just have to wait and see what lies ahead at the end of the road for Vin Diesel and co.’s final FF flick.

If it feels like it has been a minute since audiences last got to go on an adventure with the crew from the Fast & Furious movies, that's because it has. It has now been over two years since we last saw Dominic Toretto and his family go up against the insanity of Jason Momoa's Dante in Fast X, and fans have been waiting with bated breath for the conclusion to that movie's wild cliffhanger ending (not to mention the mid-credits tease featuring Dwayne Johnson).

The bad news now is that we're technically only about halfway through the waiting period – but the good news is that Vin Diesel has not lost any affection for the work and has provided a big update about the sequel.

Vin Diesel Shares Appreciation For His Fast & Furious Family With A Message Of Love

It's pretty wild that next year will mark the quarter-century anniversary of the Fast & Furious movies. Not only is it a rare thing for Hollywood franchises to continue that long consistently, but that's a hell of a lot of time to build relationships. It's far from a secret that Vin Diesel has a lot of love for his co-stars and collaborators in the making of the movies over that long stretch of time – and in case anyone forgot, he re-upped his love for those folks his weekend with a sweet Instagram post.

The actor publish a trio of photos – two stylized in black and white – on his personal social channel, and what they all share in common is him embracing his fellow actors on set (it's not clear from any of them when they were actually shot). Diesel seemingly didn't have any specific reason to post beyond a desire to express appreciation for his friends, and the post came with the following sweet caption:

Vin Diesel demonstrates a lot of love for his friends and colleagues – and it feels like something we can all take pointers from. In the chaos and randomness of life, it's always important to make sure that they people you care about know how much you care about them. None of us are here forever, and none of us know when our time will be up.

Diesel is all too aware of this reality, having experienced the shocking passing of his friend Paul Walker in the making of Furious 7 – and we learned this weekend that his love for his departed friend is having a direct impact on the development of Fast X: Part 2.

Vin Diesel Says That Paul Walker's Brian O'Conner Will Be Back In Fast X: Part 2

According to Entertainment Weekly, Vin Diesel made a surprise appearance at the Pomona, California event known as FuelFest this past weekend, and while addressing the crowd there, he directly commented on the development of the next installment of the Fast & Furious franchise.

The actor said that Universal Pictures is hoping to have Fast X: Part 2 in production next year in advance of a release in the spring of 2027, and in response to that request, he told executives that he has three conditions that need to be met with the production: they concern the setting, the story, and a challenging reunion:

Bringing the story of Fast X: Part 2 back to LA and having it be more car culture-centric don't sound like big challenges, but how will Dom and Brian get back together on screen? That's a significant mystery that doesn't have an answer.

In the canon of the Fast & Furious movies, Brian is still alive and has stepped away from the globe-trotting/terrorist-stopping actions of his good friends. Audiences last saw him in the final scene of Furious 7, which had Dom and Brian racing before parting ways. The moment was created with help from visual effects and the support of Paul Walker's brothers – who have said previously that they would like the opportunity to bring Brian back to the franchise again.

There is obviously a lot we presently don't know about Fast X: Part 2, including the fates of many of the main characters and how Dom and his son will be able to survive the vicious trap laid by Dante at the end of Fast X. We'll all get answers soon enough, though, and as more news about the project is revealed, you can be sure that you'll find more analysis here on CinemaBlend.

If the original plan for Fast X’s continuation had held, we’d be talking about how the Torretto crime family would be making a grand return on the 2025 movie schedule. Alas, what we know about Fast and Furious 11 informs us that delays and the magnetic draw of releasing this potentially final chapter led to an undetermined 2026 debut. The latter reason is a sweet factor to keep in mind, as it signifies just how much this blockbuster franchise loves to wear its heart on its production sleeve. We've now seen this popping up again thanks to Vin Diesel’s heartfelt announcement that the rest of Fast X: Part 2 will be filming in Los Angeles.

This news came from a post that the Fast Saga star/producer shared to his Instagram, complete with a fitting image of Diesel embracing on-screen sister Jordana Brewster. What makes this choice appropriate is Brewster herself had asked the man himself if this project could conclude in the city of angels, with this rationale in mind:

While there’s still a fair amount of Fast X sequel drama that makes its way into the press, those unfortunate rumors seem to be leveled out by gestures such as the one seen above. It doesn’t matter if you’re family by blood or by choice, these sorts of scraps are part of the ups and downs that make life surprising.

At least the intention to film the rest of the Fast Saga's supposed swan song can be considered an “up.” There will be plenty of filmmaking professionals in need of work in the Los Angeles area, and the money spent to bring this vision to life could go a long way toward helping people rebuild in the aftermath of the devastating wildfires. That feels like exactly what Dom would have done in this scenario, which makes all this even sweeter.

Fast X can currently be streamed through a Peacock subscription, with the rest of the series cast to various sources on the streaming winds. You have plenty of time for a refresher course though, as Fast X Part 2, or whatever this blockbuster return will be named upon its arrival, doesn’t have a specific 2026 release date on the books just yet.

At the same time, one could guess that June 19, 2026 would be a hypothetical drop date. With director Louis Leterrier's reverence for The Fast and the Furious' 25th anniversary, that would get the picture in theaters in time for fans to celebrate on the exact date.

We’ll have to wait to see if this prediction is confirmed or debunked, over the year to come and at a quarter mile at a time. As always, we here at CinemaBlend continue to offer our deepest support to those dealing with the humanitarian disaster the California wildfires have brought.

The Fast & Furious franchise is a massive success that has brought in billions of dollars at the global box office. We’re expecting multiple movies in the series yet to come, with Fast and Furious 11 on the horizon, as well as a new Dwayne Johnson spinoff movie. However, it’s looking like Vin Diesel’s big franchise could actually be in trouble as the next movie’s future is unknown.

The sequel to Fast X was originally set to open in theaters this year. But as of now, production has not begun, and there isn’t an expected start date. The reason, reportedly, is that Vin Diesel is having trouble securing financing for more Fast & Furious films.

The Next Fast & Furious Movie Is Reportedly Having Budget Problems

It seems odd that an entry in the Fast & Furious franchise is having trouble finding financing, but that’s the report coming from RadarOnline. It states that Diesel is trying to get the next film a massive budget, but that the last movie’s performance may make that a no-go.

Fast X grossed an impressive $715 million at the global box office, but that was on the heels of a budget that, before marketing and distribution, reportedly ballooned up to $340 million. This made the last movie barely profitable. It’s suggested that Fast & Furious 11 may need to dial back its expectations budget-wise if it wants to be more appealing to the people who write the checks.

Before Fast X’s release, it was suggested the “last” movie in the franchise could end up being a trilogy. Now it seems clear that there will only be one more movie. However there are other parts of the franchise that we were still expecting.

The Rock’s Fast & Furious Future Is Still A Big Question

Of course, the direct sequel to Fast X isn’t the only Fast & Furious project with a question hanging over it. The post-credits scene to Fast X signaled a return of Dwayne Johnson to the franchise. That news was followed by the announcement of a new spinoff, one we expected to see before the next entry in the main franchise. That movie is also in limbo.

Considering the awkward interaction that Diesel and Johnson had at the Golden Globes earlier this month, there are still a lot of questions about how much their previous feud is behind them.

It’s not entirely unheard of for a movie that was a “part one” to never get a part two. There have been projects shelved because the first movie didn’t perform. There’s no indication that Fast & Furious could be in danger of that. One assumes that if Diesel can’t get the budget he wants, he’ll take the budget he can get. But it may mean that the final entry in the storied franchise may not be quite the sendoff that he, or fans, are hoping for.

What exactly is going on with Vin Diesel and Dwayne Johnson? The fact that the two mega stars had issues is well known, but we had been led to believe that the fight was behind them. Questions were once again raised, however, after a very awkward interaction between the two at the 2025 Golden Globes last weekend. Now Diesel has responded, indicating that everything is just fine, but even that post raises questions.

Vin Diesel recently posted to Instagram an image of himself and The Rock standing together and smiling. If the picture had been taken at the Golden Globes, or anytime recently, it might indicate that the two are friends. But the image is from 2011, when Fast Five was released and Dwayne Johnson originally joined the iconic franchise. Still, Diesel’s brief post accompanying the picture insists everything is good, saying simply…

It was during The Fate of the Furious that we learned of an ongoing beef between the two actors. Johnson implied that Diesel was making the cast and crew wait for him on set. Meanwhile, Diesel said he had to provide some “tough love” for The Rock on set. The two actors shared few scenes in the movie but were reportedly never actually on set at the same time.

The feud between the two was all the more reason that fans were shocked to see Johnson appear in the post-credits scene of Fast X, indicating a return to the main franchise. Exactly what’s going on with that is still unclear, but there are reportedly plans for The Rock’s character to appear in another spinoff movie, before possibly returning for the conclusion of Fast X.

But then the Golden Globes happened. Vin Diesel was on hand to present the award for cinematic and box office achievement, and when he came to the microphone, he recognized Johnson in the audience, and said “Hi, Dwayne.” Both men were smiling, but the moment was noticeably awkward. Even the Golden Globes producers admit they were worried that something unplanned might go down between the two.

Both Johnson and Diesel have said their relationship is fine and that whatever problems there were are behind them. While there’s no reason not to take them at their word, we may need to wait and see what happens when the two end up back on a movie set together again. At this point what we know about Fast X - Part 2, or any of the rest of the franchise is far from clear, so when that will happen is anybody’s guess.

Unless we see a miracle akin to jumping a 1970 Dodge Charger off of an exploding dam and surviving to share the story, the upcoming 2025 movies won’t include Fast X Part 2. That’s, of course, not the final name for the picture, as everything we know about Fast and Furious 11 still paints this film in a very mysterious light. But at the same time, the latest sneak peek that Vin Diesel has given us is a pretty familiar location, which should have fans of the OG movie pumped.

As the still-in production eleventh movie in the Fast Saga timeline continues to plug along, one of its franchise stars is teasing some very practical setups ahead. Shown below is Vin Diesel’s social media post, complete with sweet caption:

For those who thought that Fast X’s ending would have even dreamed of killing Dom and Little Brian, I think we can all give that notion a rest. However, Fast 11 is being eyed for release around the same time we’ll be celebrating The Fast and the Furious’ 25th anniversary. Tyrese’s comments about Fast 11 “taking it back to the streets” make even more sense now, as we’ve now seen physical proof that this is the literal truth.

While I’m loving the promise of heading back to life a quarter mile at a time, that would signal a huge shift from what the Fast Saga franchise has become in recent years. Tons of espionage adjacent action has unfolded in the last few entries, with macguffins that possess that very same sort of flavoring.

This also conjures memories of the fact that Fast 11’s writing team shakeup also poses the question of just how much things will change. How do you go back to the streets after Dante Reyes has turned the fight into something that literally ended with a plane crash? I know this question is relatively simple when compared to others like, "How the hell is Gisele alive?" and "Is Jakob seriously dead?", but the point still stands.

We’re at an interesting point in the Fast and Furious franchise, where the uncertainty over Fast 11’s finale status has us wondering if this intended victory lap could go on a little longer than expected. Maybe the fact that we’re going back to the streets means we’re getting a lean and mean mid-quel in the proposed Fast X trilogy, in which Dom and the team lie low doing what they do best: racing cars. I can’t say it would be an unwelcome change of pace when gearing up for the big ending.

Fast and Furious 11 will apparently give the fans the sequel they deserve at an undetermined point in 2026. That being said, if you want to revisit the beginning of the vengeance quest waged by Jason Momoa’s Dante Reyes, open up your Peacock subscription and watch Fast X in its current streaming home!

Considering the Fast and Furious movies have been around for well over two decades, the fandom – or family, I should say – runs deep. The love for the Fast cast is real, and they interact with fans all over the world. Most recently, Vin Diesel posted a video of a fan he met in an airport who had a sweet Paul Walker tattoo, and as the Dom actor said, it’s “all love.”

Since Paul Walker died in 2013, there’s been a consistent and strong outpouring of love and appreciation for the late actor. The Fast and Furious ensemble pays tribute to Walker on his birthday, his daughter Meadow frequently posts touching images of her father, and fans consistently show their adoration for him. That was proven recently when Vin Diesel ran into a fan at an airport who had a tattoo of a sentence that’s connected to the Brian actor, check it out:

When The Guardians of the Galaxy actor spoke in the video, he noted that you never know who you’ll run into, saying:

Diesel appeared to be on a tarmac when he met the ramp agent named Marcel who had a quote associated with Walker tattooed on his arm. It said:

Now, when you search this quote, it’s widely attributed to Paul Walker, and you can buy stickers, magnets and more with the words on it. However, the quote's origin is unclear, as it has been debated on Reddit, Quora and the comments of Diesel’s post.

However, it is a sentence that is widely associated with the Brian actor, and many have posted tribute videos about him using it. The Dom actor also seemed to be touched by the ramp agent’s tattoo, as his caption said:

While Paul Walker passed away over ten years ago, his legacy lives on strong in the Fast family. For example, we know that Fast X: Part 2 (or Fast and Furious 11), will take place in LA and come out 25 years after the first film – The Fast and the Furious. That alone hints at the notion that this upcoming F&F movie will pay homage to the franchise’s history, and it got even better when Diesel teased the return of Brian's iconic car. So, again, while the beloved actor is gone, he’s still ever-present because of the homages from his friends, family and fans.

Seeing this tattoo for the performer certainly made me happy, and it seemed to make Vin Diesel happy too. Now, I’m even more excited for Fast and Furious 11, and I can’t wait to see how they continue to honor the Walker, and how fans show their appreciation for him.

To go back and watch Walker and Diesel in these movies, you can stream the Fast and Furious films across various streaming platforms – the early films are available with a Peacock subscription. Then, get ready for the eleventh installment in the franchise by recapping the end of Fast X and preparing for what’s bound to be an epic and nostalgic continuation of that story in 2026.

You know it’s time to get ready for a Fast and Furious movie when Dom’s signature black Dodge Charger and/or Challenger come out. And in Vin Diesel’s update about the upcoming Fast X: Part 2, we got to see not one but three of those incredible black cars his character is known for driving. Let’s just say that after seeing this video, pumped is an understatement.

To celebrate the fact that the cast of F&F is seemingly preparing for production, Diesel took to Instagram to post this sick video of three black cars being pulled out of a racetrack on a trailer. All three are black cars that look like Dom’s signature vehicles, and it’s incredibly cool, take a look:

What makes this video super interesting is the fact that Fast 11 will start filming in January 2025 with Louis Leterrier back as director after helming Fast X. So, I have to wonder where exactly Vin Diesel is going with those cars that are famously known for being Dom Toretto's style.

A week ago, Diesel posted on Instagram that he had been training for Fast X’s follow-up. Posting a photo of him and Sung Kang, who plays fan-fave Han, the Dom actor wrote:

So, it wouldn’t shock me if he was back in those classic black cars for training purposes. That theory also tracks since the cars were being pulled out of a race track.

Famously, the car stunts in all the Fast and Furious movies are jaw-dropping and the team has put a lot of work into pulling what they can off practically, and that means the actors and stunt crew need to train for them. Also, since filming is still months away, it makes sense that Diesel was likely using the cars to prepare for production.

We know that the eleventh Fast film will bring the gang back home to LA where it all began, and as they prepare for the F&F franchise to conclude, they’ll be going back to their roots. Hopefully, this means we’ll also witness stunts like the ones we saw in the OG Fast and Furious movie – like the train sequence and those epic street races. While we don’t know exactly why Vin Diesel was leaving the track with Dom’s cars, my hope is that he was training for moments that pay homage to the first films in this franchise.

As we learn more about what’s to come with Fast X: Part 2, we’ll make sure to keep you updated on all the action. Considering it’s not coming out until 2026, you can fill your time by checking out the 2024 movie schedule and streaming or renting the first F&F movies to reacquaint yourself with Dominic Toretto’s iconic cars.

The ending of Fast X left all of our heroes in dire straights. Dominic Toretto and his son were at the bottom of a dam with a flood of water bearing down. Several characters had apparently been in a plane crash, and in the Fast X post-credits scene, Dwayne Johnson’s Hobbs was targeted by Jason Momoa’s Dante. We all have no idea what’s going to happen next. And it seems that what happens next may have drastically changed.

From everything we knew about Fast & Furious 11, or Fast X: Part 2 or whatever it’s going to be called, it was originally going to be written by Orien Uziel and Christina Hodson. However, in a post to Instagram, Vin Diesel revealed that the role has apparently now been given to Zach Dean, the writer of Chris Pratt’s The Tomorrow War.

It seems that the decision has been made to keep the writing in the “family.” Uziel and Hodson would have been newcomers to the Fast & Furious franchise, but Dean had the story credit on Fast X. One assumes that if the last movie's story was his creation, he had at least some sort of plan for where it would go from there, so having him write the new screenplay makes a certain amount of sense.

Of course, changing writers has the potential to delay production, meaning we really have no idea when we might see Fast X: Part 2. The movie currently has a June 2026 release date, so there’s still plenty of time to get a script written and hit that date. It’s unclear from Vin Disel’s comment if Zach Dean’s script is done or something that is currently in progress.

Diesel also refers to writer Chris Morgan, whose work Diesel was apparently doing ADR for at the time. Morgan wrote all the Fast & Furious movies from Tokyo Drift to Fate of the Furious, as well as the Hobbs & Shaw spinoff. Morgan is currently working on the Dwayne Johnson-led Fast & Furious spinoff that we’re supposed to see before Fast X: Part 2. That movie is reportedly not Hobbs & Shaw 2, though it should absolutely be Hobbs & Shaw 2.

Expectations are certainly high for the next Fast & Furious movie. It’s expected to be the last of the main franchise. However, fans have been teased by the idea that the “final” movie could end up as its own trilogy. Either way, it seems unlikely that the Fast & Furious franchise will be ending entirely. There are still other spinoffs that fans have been promised and the success of the franchise, including the upcoming Universal Studios Hollywood roller coaster, indicates that Universal is unlikely to end it anytime soon, if at all.

The following contains spoilers for 32 movies with great cliffhanger endings. 

One of the things that usually defines the cinematic experience is that movies, unlike an episode of TV,  tell a complete story. They have a beginning middle and end. While sequels are always possible, that only means more adventures with our favorite characters. However, not all movies end quite so cleanly.

Many movies end on cliffhangers, with heroes either not completing the story by the end of the movie and finding themselves in jeopardy, or some new threat looming its head as the credits roll. This is often done when movie sequels are already planned, or at least expected. Other times it seems to happen just because filmmakers think it will be cool. Here are 32 times movies ended in cliffhangers, whether we eventually got a resolution or not.

 Back to the Future 

Back to the Future appears to have a happy ending. Marty has, however accidentally, changed his family life for the better. Or at least so he thinks. In the final moments, Doc Brown returns from the future to tell Marty that something is wrong with his kids. A big "To Be Continued..." promised us more to the story, which came after a very long four years. 

 The Matrix Reloaded 

While not technically called Part One, The Matrix: Reloaded was filmed alongside its sequel, so it's little surprise that the movie ended on a big cliffhanger. Agent Smith makes the jump from the Matrix to the real world somehow. Neo has shown some ability to use his abilities outside of The Matrix, and Zion is in danger. What is going on and what will happen next?

Avengers: Infinity War 

There has been no movie franchise in the last two decades as big as the Marvel Cinematic Universe and so it's not surprising that the biggest cliffhanger in recent memory was the end of Avengers: Infinity War. Half of our heroes were erased from existence and fans had to wait a year to find out what happened to everybody. 

The Italian Job (1969)

If we're talking cliffhangers, then it's impossible to leave out discussion of the original The Italian Job, a movie that ends with the cast hanging from a literal cliff. The thieves are on one side of the bus handing off a ledge, the loot is on the other, and Michael Caine is in between, trying to figure out how to get the goods without killing everybody.

The Thing 

One of the most talked about endings of all time. John Carpenter's The Thing sees an Antarctic research team battling an alien threat that can take the form of anybody. In the end, only two men remain and the alien might be dead, or one of the two survivors might not be a man at all. While some have suggested The Thing ending has a clear answer we never saw a true resolution.

 Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest 

There are currently five films in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise starring Johnny Depp's Captain Jack Sparrow, but the character's fate was in question after only the second movie. Dead Man's Chest ended with Jack Sparrow taken to Davy Jones' Locker. His crew has plans to rescue him however, with help from an unlikely source, Geoffrey Rush's Captain Barbossa, who up until the final shot of the film, had been dead himself.

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse 

Sony's animated Spider-Verse movies are viewed by many as the best cinematic version of Spider-Man we've ever seen. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse's ending gave fans an incredible story that left all our favorite heroes in a difficult position. Miles is in a universe other than the one he knows, the prisoner of an alternate version of himself. Gwen Stacy is mounting a rescue mission that hasn't even begun when the credits roll. 

 Halloween 

Considering just how many Halloween movies there have been over the years where Michael Myers wreaks havoc it's easy to forget that the original Halloween left fans wondering just what would happen next following its ending. Michael Myers is shot multiple times and falls off a balcony for good measure. He appears motionless at the bottom, seemingly dead. But when we look again his body is gone, leading the audience to wonder if the fight was really over.

John Wick: Chapter 2 

The first John Wick movie was a self-contained story that saw our hero set a particular goal, and achieve that goal. However, by doing so, he set in motion the events of John Wick: Chapter 2, which in turn, left viewers with a major cliffhanger at the end of that film. The entire assassin world is out to get John Wick, and all John can do is start to run. 

Star Wars: The Force Awakens 

During all of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, the audience has one question. What happened to Luke Skywalker? The final moments of the film only partially answer the question. Luke has been found, but why he is where he is, and how he'll respond to being found is not revealed until the opening moments of Star Wars: The Last Jedi.

Kill Bill: Volume 1 

Kill Bill makes it clear from its title that Vol 1 is only going to give us part of the story, but beyond the fact that The Bride has yet to get revenge on all the Deadly Vipers at the end, the first movie teases the audience with a piece of news the main character doesn't yet know, that he daughter is still alive. 

Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning, Part One

By the end of a Mission: Impossible movie you can usually count on Tom Cruise's Ethan Hunt saving the day. Unfortunately, by the end of Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One, the day is not yet saved. While Ethan has the key that is needed to help stop the rogue AI, the location of that AI, is still a big mystery. 

Alita: Battle Angel 

James Cameron worked for years to turn Alita: Battle Angel into a film, and in true Cameron fashion, the movie didn't do anything by half measures. The film didn't simply tease a sequel, but demanded one, revealing a villain, played by Edward Norton, in the final moments who was meant to be part of sequels that have yet to materialize. Fans have wanted to see Alita sequels for years, but a follow-up to this cliffhanger is increasingly unlikely. 

The Divergent Series: Allegiant 

Following successful franchises like Harry Potter and The Hunger Games it became common for franchises to split their final stories in half. Unfortunately, this was bad news for The Divergent Series as it left its characters in the middle of their final adventure with a cliffhanger ending, before deciding to end the series without making the last Divergent movie, so the cliffhanger would never be resolved.

Godzilla (1998) 

Roland Emmerich's attempt at a Godzilla movie in the late '90s was not well received by critics or audiences. It's not the best Godzilla movie by a long shot. The movie would never get the chance to improve with a sequel, which is too bad considering the film had a solid cliffhanger. The movie would reveal that this version of Godzilla was female, and had laid eggs before dying. More of the creatures were going to be born, and who knows what they would have done.

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug 

J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit is one of the most popular novels of all time, so it seems unlikely that anybody watching The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug didn't know what was going to happen after the second movie of the trilogy ended. However, for those few, the movie did conclude with a very angry Smaug flying to Laketown to destroy everything, and that's a pretty good cliffhanger. 

Saw III 

While the entire Saw franchise is a sort of bizarre horror soap opera, Saw III saw the greatest cliffhanger ending where Angus Macfayden's Jeff would fight his way through a series of traps only to lose his wife, and learn that Jigsaw had also captured his young daughter. What's worse, as the majority of Saw IV would actually be set prior to the events of Saw III, we wouldn't actually see this cliffhanger resolved until the opening of Saw V.

Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back 

One of the all-time great cliffhanger endings. Han Solo has been captured and frozen in carbonite. Luke Skywalker has lost a hand and learned that Darth Vader is his father. What's been lost to the decades however is that it wasn't until Return of the Jedi that we learned for sure Vader was telling the truth. At the time fans had to simply wait to see how the trilogy would resolve.

Evil Dead II 

The first Evil Dead movie ends on a sort of cliffhanger when it is implied that the evil was not, in fact, dead. However, the sequel goes even harder when Ash vanquishes the evil by using the Necronomicon to open a portal to suck in the monsters. Unfortunately, he is also pulled through and the movie ends with him having traveled back in time to the past. How will he get out of this?

Super Mario Bros. 

While many people have worked hard to forget the live-action Super Mario Bros. movie, anybody who was a fan is very disappointed the movie wasn't a bigger hit. The film ends with Samantha Mathis' Daisy busting down Mario and Luigi's door to ask them for help. She doesn't say why, and we'll never know since a sequel never happened.

The Birds 

Alfred Hitchcock was one of the greatest film directors ever and his movies frequently ended with a twist or with some sort of finale that had people talking as they left the theater. The Birds sees every winged creature on Earth attacking humanity. There's no explanation for it, nor is there an explanation for why the birds stop attacking at the end of the film. Will they attack again? It's far from clear, but the movie certainly implies the story is not over.

Split 

M. Night Shyamalan is known for twists, but not necessarily cliffhangers. His multiple-personality monster movie Split appears to be just another of the director's mysterious films until the final scene reveals that Split is taking place in the same universe as the superhero film Unbreakable, and it's clear that a clash between The Beast and David Dunn is coming. 

It Follows 

Horror movies often have cliffhanger endings, as it's the perfect way for the horror to last all the way to the end. It Follows sees a monster transmitted via sex murder a number of teenagers, and while the evil appears to have been defeated by the end, in the final shot, something is following our characters. It's probably nothing...probably. An It Follows sequel has been discussed. That's all I'm saying.

28 Weeks Later 

28 Weeks Later was not a direct sequel to the original 28 Days Later, but it did continue the story of the world where the rage virus has ravaged The U.K. By the end of the film, however, we learn that the virus has made the jump to France, and potentially all of Europe. Whether there's any hope of survival at all is the only question left to ask.

The Dark Knight 

The first of Christopher Nolan's Batman movies teased us with the inclusion of The Joker, but that's not quite the same thing as a cliffhanger. The Dark Knight, however, ends with Batman on the run, with the city he protects believing he's the enemy. Now that is a cliffhanger.

Dune 

We knew Denis Villeneuve's Dune: Part One wouldn't tell the entire story of Frank Herbert's novel. The only question was where would it end. While the movie doesn't leave any characters in jeopardy at the moment, it is still sure to give us a flash forward of one possible future for Paul Atraides, making us wonder just what would happen to him.

Fast X 

While Fast X wasn't given a title that implied it would be a "part one" we knew that another movie was planned after this one, so it wasn't exactly a shock when the movie ended on a cliffhanger. However, the Fast X ending saw half the team seemingly die in a plane crash while everybody else was looking to drown under the water of an exploding dam. That's a pretty furious ending.

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom 

While there have been several Jurassic Park movies, most of them end with the major threat, whatever it may be, having been dealt with. This made Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom a bit different as the film ended with dinosaurs having escaped into the continental United States. We knew this would change everything in the world but we'd have to wait for the next movie to see how. 

Planet of the Apes (2001) 

The original Planet of the Apes had one of the all-time great twist endings, and so it's little surprise that 2001's remake tried to do something to top it. Astronaut Mark Wahlberg believes he's made it home, only to find a version of his reality that Apes have taken over. What did it all mean? The movie's lackluster box office meant we would never find out.

Spider-Man: Far From Home 

Additional scenes during the credits of Marvel movies are commonplace now, but they usually tease the future of the wider franchise. Spider-Man: Far From Home, however, did something a little bit different by taking this moment to actually reveal Spider-Man's identity as Peter Parker to the world. What would happen next would be a major question for fans until Spider-Man: No Way Home answered it.

X2: X-Men United

For some the ending of X2: X-Men United might not have actually seemed like a cliffhanger. While Jean Gray dies saving the X-Men, that's a downer ending, not a cliffhanger. However, the movie's final moments give us an image of a phoenix, a reference to the Phoenix Saga from the X-Men comics, and a note for knowing fans that more was to come. 

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 

The second of the three live-action Spider-Man franchises was clearly planning for a big finale to its trilogy. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 ended with a man, cloaked in shadows walking through a collection of gear that belonged to Spider-Man's greatest comic book enemies. The movie teased the creation of the Sinister 6, but we never saw them, and exactly who this character was supposed to be was never revealed. 

Many of these movies eventually saw their cliffhangers resolve. For others, it seems no answer was ever planned. But who knows lots of movies in recent years have seen sequels decades after their original installments, so maybe seeing how these cliffhangers play out is still possible. 

Get the family together, because it's time to prepare for one final ride! Up to this point, we haven't learned much about the upcoming Fast and Furious 11. However, recently, the film’s director Louis Leterrier opened up about the release date for the Fast and Furious franchise’s finale and where it'll take place. Let's just say, I'm very here for this plan!

Leterrier, who is returning for Fast 11 after directing Fast X, explained to Collider that pre-production on the upcoming movie is happening soon, and he clarified that filming should start in early 2025. This makes the projected release year for the film 2026 -- which would be 25 years since the release of 2001’s The Fast and The Furious. The director said:

It can be assumed that this movie will come out in the summer of 2026. However, the exact release date hasn’t been announced yet. The Fast and The Furious came out on June 22, 2001, so if the eleventh film’s premiere happens “exactly to the day” as the director said, we can predict that the release date will be in late June 2026.

Along with this exciting update that places Fast 11's release window in a very special year, the director explained that the setting will also pay homage to the movie that started this whole adventure. While quite a few of the Fast movies have included Los Angeles as a location, Leterrier dished that it will be the primary setting for the eleventh movie in the franchise. Going into detail about this choice, he said:

Overall, I love that the franchise is playing into the nostalgia, and it's going to come full circle on such a special anniversary year. Leterrier has said that they know where the Fast franchise will end, and I’m thrilled that part of that ending will include the city where all of this started.

Hopefully, this also means they’ll scale down the story a bit to mirror the first few Fast and Furious films too. I’d love to see Dom and co. pulling off heists like they did back in 2001.

Along with knowing the release year and the setting for Fast 11, we know that Dwayne Johnson is returning to the franchise after his cameo at the end of Fast X.  We’re also aware that a few changes will be made to Jason Momoa’s villain from Fast X. On top of that, it’s expected that the majority of the FF Family will be back – including, but not limited to, Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Sung Kang, Tyrese Gibson, Jason Statham, Ludacris, Charlize Theron and even Gal Gadot – considering all the cliffhangers we were left on at the end of Fast X that need to be resolved. 

As we learn more about the family’s final outing in Fast and Furious 11, we’ll be sure to keep you posted. In the meantime, while we count down the days to 2026, check out the 2024 movie schedule to see what other action-packed flicks are coming to theaters in the next year.  

The Fast and Furious saga has been teasing a conclusion for years, but the closer we get to it, the less it becomes clear when it’s actually happening. Back when Fast X was first announced we were under the distinct impression it would be the end of the franchise. Then Fast X became two movies, and then two movies and a spinoff, and now it’s unclear if even that will be the end.

If anybody knew what was going on with the Fast and Furious franchise, you’d think it would be one of the “family.” But People recently spoke with Ludacris, who plays Tej in the series, and if he knows what’s happening at this point. He’s not telling. When asked specifically if the Fast X sequel will be the end, he plays coy, saying…

So that’s about as far from definitive as you can expect to get. Does Ludacris say he doesn’t know because he actually doesn’t know, or because he knows it's not the end, and can’t say anything yet? At this point, the company line seems to be to tease a future, rather than announce a finale.

Initially, we thought Fast X would be the end. Then we were told that, like so many franchise finales before it “the end” would actually be two movies rather than one. Then we learned that Dwayne Johnson was returning to the Fast and Furious franchise in a movie that was not the second half of Fast X, nor was it Hobbs and Shaw 2, but it was some other third thing, seemingly set to act as a bridge between Fast X finales.

But now, even after the next two movies, we’re not entirely sure the franchise will be over. Ludacris knows that, even if we see an end to this particular story, it doesn’t mean the end of the larger franchise, so perhaps we should get ready for Fast and Furious Phase 2. He continues…

And to be fair, there’s always been that Fast and Furious female spinoff that we are continually promised, but has yet to happen. At this point, it would almost have to happen after Fast X Part II if it’s ever going to happen at all. And it seems unlikely anybody at Universal wants to stop making movies in the series as long as they keep making hundreds of millions of dollars. So maybe this is far from the end after all.

You have to go pretty far down the cast list for Fast X before you get to Alan Ritchson’s name. The towering action star stacks up against the likes of John Cena, Jason Momoa and franchise Godfather, Vin Diesel. But unlike on the hit show Reacher – available now with a subscription to Amazon Prime Video – Ritchson isn’t the top dog. Though in his mind, there is one place where he’d triumph over the rest of his Fast X crew. 

Anyone who has seen the first two seasons of Reacher knows that Alan Ritchson isn’t someone to be toyed with, physically. The actor is built like a mountain, and uses that bulk to his advantage. So, during an interview on the Rich Eisen show, Ritchson was asked which of his Fast X co-stars did he believe that he could “take” physically. Meaning, beat in a fight. To which Ritchson basically replied, in the most Jack Reacher way possible: 

As Ritchson says in the hilarious viral clip, “It’s what I do.” And he does it very well. So well, in fact, that DC Comics fans already are lobbying for Ritchson to play Bruce Wayne when the Caped Crusader resurfaces in the already announced The Brave and the Bold. As we know in that movie, Batman will be a mentor to Damian Wayne, the psychotic son he had with Talia al Ghul. As of right now, that movie will be directed by The Flash helmer, Andy Muschietti.

Back to Alan Ritchson for a moment, and his part in the ever-growing tapestry of Fast & Furious movies. There’s an upcoming Fast & Furious movie dated for April 11, 2025, and we anticipate his character Aimes returning to the fold. For those who might not remember, Aimes stepped in for Mr. Nobody (Kurt Russell), and led the charge to hunt down Dante (Jason Momoa). But now that Dante has turned his attention to Hobbs (The Rock), we figure Aimes might be helping out with that mission. 

I wonder how Alan Ritchson feels about going toe-to-toe with The Rock?

Sometimes it feels like WWE writers are contributing to the Fast & Furious screenplays, am I right? While we wait and see what happens with Fast 11 (or whatever that movie ends up being called), we can also prepare for Alan Ritchson’s return in Reacher Season 3. It has been confirmed that the next season will adapt the Lee Child book Persuader, so grab a copy of the novel and start brushing up on the characters and story. Once we have a release date for that one, we’ll report it right here on CinemaBlend. 

Jason Momoa has been working in Hollywood for some time now and has managed to make a solid career for himself. He’s played different roles, from the heroic Aqauman in the DC Extended Universe to the downright devious Dante Reyes in Fast X. He’s had much success in this sector of the entertainment business, as a number of his films have solid receipts. There’s also the fact that Momoa has amassed a strong following. Nevertheless, while the A-lister enjoys playing a villain who paints dead guys’ toenails (as much as we enjoy watching it), there’s still a career milestone he’d like to hit.

The 44-year-old leading man delighted – and horrified – audiences when he played the flamboyant Dante in the latest in the line of Fast & Furious movies (which we’ve ranked). Of course, his work as the villain isn’t done yet, as he’s set to appear in the upcoming sequel, which is set to bring the high-octane franchise to an end. During an interview with Variety, the Sweet Girl star was asked about the status of the movie. He admitted to not having seen a script yet but did provide some positive thoughts: 

Such an experience is likely truly “wonderful” when you get to chew as much scenery as Jason Momoa did as Reyes. The antagonist, who went to war with Vin Diesel’s Dominic Toretto and his crew, proved to be one of the most bonkers villains in the Fast & Furious franchise. What probably still sticks out for most is the toenail-painting scene, which Momoa discussed and provided context for. He surely made a lasting impression on the flick, and one can understand why he enjoyed the work so much. 

Despite his love for his most recent role and the work he does in general, there is something that the accomplished star still keeps in mind. He seems to be fully conscious of the kind of feature films he’s known for starring in. With that, it would appear that he’d like to change it up a bit down the line. He explained: 

Many actors crave material that will test not only them as performers but audience members as well. So it’s totally understandable that Jason Momoa would want to seek out substantial pieces of art. With that being said, one could make the argument that he’s already achieved that goal. Momoa was, after all, a member of the cast of Dune, for which writer and director Denis Villeneuve received much praise – as did the cast. Considering the dense yet complex ideas that book adaptation captured, I’d definitely consider it a film that requires its audience to do homework. 

Still, I’m hopeful that the proud Hawaiian actor will get a chance to cut his teeth on even more productions that are as interesting as the 2021 epic. Of course, I also look forward to seeing him hamming it in his buddy comedy with Dave Bautista (which is coming along) and the next FF movie.

Before that final installment hits theaters on April 4, 2025, you can check out Jason Momoa’s work in Fast X by grabbing a Peacock subscription. Also, any Max subscribers who are interested can stream Dune now.

While directors leaving a movie before it begins filming isn’t an uncommon occurrence, it’s rare you’ll find instances where they leave in the midst of production. Arguably the biggest recent example of this was when director Justin Lin, who’d been contributing to the Fast & Furious franchise since 2006’s Tokyo Drift, left Fast X after just one week of filming. Nearly two full years after this high-profile exit from one of the biggest 2023 movie releases happened, Lin has opened up about how he feels about it.

Lin stopped by the Happy Sad Confused podcast to do a watch-along of Tokyo Drift with host Josh Horowitz. Understandably though, Horowitz inquired about Lin walking away from Fast X, which was going to be his sixth time helming a Fast & Furious movie. The filmmaker started off by saying:

Although it’s never been officially disclosed why Justin Lin walked away from Fast X, it was reported shortly thereafter that “creative differences” were the cause, specifically that Lin wasn’t getting along with franchise lead Vin Diesel. Lin’s departure happened just days after he opened up to the Dominic Toretto actor about this movie was setting up “the beginning of the epic end,” as the main Fast Saga is racing towards its conclusion. The Transporter’s Louis Leterrier ended up sitting in the Fast X director’s chair following Lin’s exit, and he’ll continue carrying out those duties for Fast & Furious 11.

Things didn’t work out for Lin on Fast X, but clearly he’s not holding any grudges, and he’s also fine with his Fast & Furious movies being the most prominent entries on his resume. And while his time with this blockbuster franchise is done, he nonetheless thinks too much attention was pointed to his exit, as well as noted that he continued to be supportive to those who kept working on the movie:

Justin Lin is still credited as a writer and producer on Fast X, but because of his departure, that means F9 remains the last movie he directed. However, he has some big movies coming up. In June 2022, it was announced that he’s directing and producing a film adaptation of the popular anime One-Punch Man, though it was clarified by February 2023 that he would make The Last Days of John Allen Chau first. Then this past December, word came in that he’ll work with Daniel Craig and Charlize Theron on a heist thriller called Two for the Money. 

The point being, we can expect more great things from Justin Lin going forward, and meanwhile he’ll keep cheering on the Fast & Furious film series as it continues down this final lap. Fast X can be streamed with a Peacock subscription now, and Fast & Furious 11 races into theaters on April 4, 2025.

The last few years have been good to actress Anna Sawai on the TV front, as Netflix subscribers first got to see her among the ensemble lineup of the historical drama Pachinko, and she can currently be seen as a member of Apple TV+’s Monarch: Legacy of Monsters’ cast. Before both those shows came out though, Sawai caught attention for playing Elle, the ward of Sung Kang’s Han Lue, in F9, but she didn’t reprise the role in the 2023 movie release Fast X. 

So when the opportunity came to speak with Sawai on behalf of CinemaBlend, we got to talking about Fast 11, and she gave an answer regarding a potential Elle return.

For those who haven’t been keeping tabs on the Fast & Furious franchise, the main film series has begun racing towards an ending, with Fast 11 officially happening, Dwayne Johnson and Jason Momoa teaming up for a spinoff bridging Fast X and 11, and Fast 12 potentially being on the table too, if Vin Diesel is to be believed. So I was curious about if a return to The Fast Saga, specifically in Fast 11, was on the horizon for Sawai, and she told me:

Back in June, Sung Kang shared there was a scene cut from Fast X that “kind of” hinted at where Elle was during those events. The actor mentioned the young girl who essentially became Han’s adopted daughter is “in school,” but given all the “real estate” that was packed into Fast X, there just wasn’t any time to mention her whereabouts. However, Kang expressed interest in checking back in with Elle before The Fast Saga is over, and Sawai is also game for this to happen, though it sounds like no one's officially touched base about this yet.

Still, considering Fast X’s ending saw Gal Gadot’s Gisele Yashar, who was thought to have died in Fast & Furious 6, being revealed as still alive, we know it’s only a matter of time until she and Han reunite. Once that happens, I have to think that we’ll get at least a scene of Elle meeting Gisele, as these are the two most important women in his life. 

That said, depending on how much time has passed between F9 and whenever we see Elle next, my fingers are crossed she’ll get to directly participate in the action rather than be relegated to the sidelines. Elle’s a part of this sprawling family, which means she deserves to be put behind the wheel of a car.

Fast 11 is currently set to race into theaters on April 4, 2025, so if/when it’s announced that Anna Sawai will reprise Elle in it, we’ll let you know. Until then, Apple TV+ subscribers can catch Anna Sawai in new episodes of Monarch: Legacy of Monsters on Fridays, and Hulu subscribers will be able to watch her leading the new series Shōgun in early 2024.

The movies were officially back in 2023, and while every genre had solid offerings, it was really a big year for action movies. Almost every major action franchise of the past decade had a movie release this year, but which among them are the ones worth remembering now that the year has come and gone? 

Out of a healthy lineup of options to choose from, CinemaBlend has narrowed down what feels like the most memorable and best action movies of 2023 we’ll look back on in years to come. Fortunately, a lot of these are already on streaming, so those trying to catch up on what all the year had to offer will be able to do relatively easy. Ranked from great to greatest, here are the top picks for the genre and the movies that had us on the edge of our seat from start to finish. 

15. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem gave us more than high-flying thrills and fun action; we also saw turtles who felt like actual teens for the first time. With as much as this franchise has been rebooted, it feels like it has finally struck gold with this new style, which allows for a more stylized action that should justify a few sequels down the line. Also, with possibly one exception, it’s the funniest action movie on this list that’s fun for the whole family. 

14. Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves

If you’re someone who missed out on Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, you’re not alone. The Chris Pine-led movie received no shortage of praise, which disappointed some like CinemaBlend’s Dirk Libbey that the box office numbers were so low. In any case, the commercial success shouldn’t deter anyone from checking this one out, especially if they’re a fan of the tabletop game. The usage of the Owlbear is a bit controversial, but beyond that, this is a pretty lore accurate movie. 

13. The Equalizer 3

I’m not sure how many times a father and son have starred in two different action movies in the same year, but I’m sure glad it happened in 2023. Denzel Washington closed out his The Equalizer trilogy with a slightly gorier affair than previous installments, but an overall solid and accessible movie for newcomers and veterans to the franchise. It’s an action movie with Denzel Washington, and honestly, that should be all we really need to be satisfied. 

12. The Mother

Jennifer Lopez isn’t exactly the first name people may think of when it comes to the action genre, but the actress certainly made a mark on the genre with The Mother. The movie climbed into Netflix’s Top 10 movies of all time, even if reviews were a bit divisive. CinemaBlend’s Sarah El-Mahmoud was someone who thoroughly enjoyed The Mother, and she put together an excellent write-up that justifies its placement on this list. 

11. The Creator

Not to be outdone by his father, John David Washington also had an action film out this year, and coincidentally enough, critics opinions on The Creator were about as divisive as reactions to The Equalizer 3. In any case, those who loved the sci-fi movie from Gareth Edwards found the Rogue One director’s latest feature visually stunning. The Creator may not be the most original premise in Hollywood, but let’s be honest, that could be said about 90% of sci-fi and action movies. This is one to watch for those looking for visual spectacle and possibly a change of pace compared to some of the grittier movies on this lineup. 

10. Plane

Gerard Butler and Mike Colter make for the action duo I didn't know I needed in 2023, and man, is it so sweet to see them together in action. When a plane is forced to make an emergency landing on an island ravaged by war, a pilot must work alongside a suspected homicide fugitive to save the passengers from a rebel leader. It may not have a name that screams action, but Plane is one to watch. 

9. Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny

Harrison Ford returned to Indiana Jones for what's said be the last hurrah for his iteration of the character. It's the classic fun of Indiana Jones fighting Nazis and chocked full of moments like the Tangier chase scene that emulate some of the best moments from the past of the franchise. While Ford is unlikely to return after Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, director James Mangold revealed the final scene indicated that Jones as a character is never really finished. The movie is available right now with a Disney+ subscription for those who missed out on seeing it in theaters.

8. Extraction 2

The sequel to Extraction had a lot to live up to, and I believe it delivered on a lot of what was expected. Personally, it inspired me to advocate for more of Chris Hemsworth in action movies, and less of him in the MCU as Thor. Some would knock Extraction 2 over the original for leaning more on the action than story, but for someone who saw this as popcorn entertainment from the get-go, I thought it was even better. 

7. Kill Boksoon

Netflix has a solid offering in Kill Boksoon, which may be the best South Korean action movie I’ve seen in quite a while. While I think it’s a common trope that assassins struggle to balance a normal life with killing for a living, it’s probably the easiest trope in action movies to believe. Watching Gil Bok-soon bounce between being a caring mother and cold-hearted killer is amazing, especially with the John Wick influence that radiates throughout this foreign film. This entry also has the option to watch with subtitles or dubbed English, and I truly believe either are worth doing for anyone who wants to see a great action movie. 

6. Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning

Tom Cruise is still going strong as Ethan Hunt in Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning, and while its ending left things off on a cliffhanger, the setup is worth the price of admission. I mean, are we going to sit here and act like Tom Cruise hasn’t been one of the masters of the action genre for a majority of his career? No one can be Ethan Hunt like he can, and the clock is winding down on just how many more of these we can enjoy. Enjoy the ride and stay on the edge of that seat for Mission: Impossible 8. 

5. The Killer

Don’t let the slow start to this movie deter, David Fincher’s Netflix movie is definitely an action film. With that being said, it travels at a slower and more deliberate pace than other entries on the list, but the stellar cast led by Michael Fassbender is well worth the wait for what evolves into one of the most exciting revenge movies I’ve seen in quite a while. My only complaint would be that I felt like I didn’t get enough Tilda Swinton in The Killer, but I think I could probably say that about all of her movies. 

4. Polite Society

Polite Society stands out as a real genre-breaker in the 2023 options, as it presents an original premise that demands the attention of anyone who has not watched it yet. It’s a coming-of-age comedy about a British-Pakistani teen who wants to be a stuntwoman and is worried her older sister is marrying into the wrong family. From there, we’re treated to a visual spectacle of martial arts performed in flowing dresses, lots of hijinks and so much more we wouldn’t see in a standard run-of-the-mill action movie. CinemaBlend’s Sarah El-Mahmoud absolutely loved Polite Society, and I would wager anyone else who decides to check out the movie will feel the same about it as well. 

3. Fast X

We all know what’s up at this point. The Fast & Furious franchise may not be the most thought-provoking cinema you’ll see, but it didn’t reach ten movies, plus one spinoff, by being a boring action franchise. Adding Jason Momoa to the mix really injected some life into Fast X, and knowing he’ll be around for the next and making some changes to the character has me pumped for what’s next. It’s getting sad to think about this long-running franchise has an endgame in mind that's being planned. 

2. Sisu

It’s not often we hear the term “Finnish action film” but Sisu falls in that category, and damn, does it deliver. An ex-Finnish soldier has a change of fortune when he finds a gold vein, but his good fortune is quickly turned by Nazi soldiers who try to take it for themselves. This is one of those action movies that is over-the-top violent and maybe a tad unrealistic at points with some of its deaths, or at least I hope that’s the case. Nevertheless, those who love fast-paced action, and some cringe-inducing violence are going to be on board with this great movie. 

1. John Wick: Chapter 4

John Wick has been the gold standard for action movies for quite a while, so it’s no surpirse the fourth installment made the top list for 2023. CinemaBlend’s Eric Eisenberg gave John Wick: Chapter 4 4.5 out of 5 stars in his review, noting that the exceptionally long run-time is justified. It’s top-tier action from start to finish, and it has me on high alert for the possibility of a fifth movie happening. 

2023 was a big year for action movies, but overall, there were a ton of great films that are worth looking back on. Continue to check out CinemaBlend as we run through some of the other top choices from genres this year and remember a year in movies that I believe will have people talking for a  long time. 

When the live-action Moana was first announced, it was supposed to be a project that would come down the line. But since then the project has been put on the fast track. And it appears now that Dwayne Johnson is really getting ready to reprise his role of Maui in the live-action film, as he says that’s the next movie he will be shooting. This is great if you’re a Moana fan, but maybe not so much if you’re waiting on the next Fast & Furious movie.

In an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Johnson confirmed that Moana would be the next project he will be filming and that he will be reprising the role of Maui. You can tell by the way he talks about it that the project is close to his heart. Johnson said…

Johnson didn’t say exactly when filming was set to begin (to our knowledge the title role has yet to be cast) but Moana is currently slated for a June 2025 release date. This would indicate filming starting anywhere in the next several months, possibly as late as next summer.

But if Johnson is filming Moana next when exactly is he planning on shooting his Fast & Furious spinoff movie? Following the release of Fast X, it was reported that Johnson, following the Fast X post-credits scene, would star in a movie that unfortunately wasn't the Hobbs & Shaw 2 I wanted, but would act as some sort of bridge between the two parts of Fast X. The spinoff doesn’t have a release date, and the Fast X sequel doesn’t have one officially. But a release date of April 4, 2025, has been reported. That would give enough time to make the spinoff, for a late 2024 release, but only if it started shooting soon.

It’s possible, even likely, that the recently resolved Hollywood strikes are delaying the Fast & Furious franchise. Both movies are likely waiting on final scripts, and the writer’s strike would have cut into the time to make that happen. It’s possible that both movies are being delayed beyond the plan, leading to Johnson making Moana next, and possibly returning to the role of Hobbs after that.

I guess fans of the Fast & Furious movies will need to be like Moana. When Dwayne Johnson described what he loved about the character and the film, he could have been talking to F&F fans, telling them to have faith in what they could not see. He said…

In the end, we still expect fans of both franchises to get their movies. It seems it may just be a question of when they will arrive.

If you missed the high octane spectacle/soap opera that is known as Fast X in theaters, you’re in luck! This weekend marks the debut of director Louis Leterrier’s contribution to the Fast Saga on the Peacock platform, so you can stream its gigantic thrills in the comforts of home. But even if you’ve seen the movie a couple times by now, Leterrier has a special request for fans who are looking for clues towards what might be happening in the future. 

Louis Leterrier’s Fast X Recommendation

As we celebrated the home entertainment release of Universal’s summer blockbuster, Leterrier and I got to talking about how Fast X fans could start to get an inkling for what may happen in Fast & Furious 11. Seeing as the picture’s now available to any one with a Peacock subscription, it’s a good time to reveal what the Transporter franchise vet wants fans to pay closer attention to. 

It’s with that intent in mind that Louis Leterrier shared with CinemaBlend a couple of key tips. The first of which is the following recommendation on what to look out for throughout his action opus: 

Unfortunately, most of those scenes are still pretty secret, as Leterrier didn’t give away all of his Fast X secrets. That being said, I did manage to get him to reveal one moment he feels is particularly important. So if you haven’t seen the movie yet, this isn’t exactly a spoiler, but it is a tip-off towards what we might expect from Fast & Furious 11. Tread with caution into what I’m about to reveal, just to be on the safe side.

The First Fast X Scene That Acts As A Clue Towards Fast And Furious 11’s Story

To get to the first supposed seed to the future of the Fast Saga, you only need to wait roughly until 15 minutes and 48 seconds into the film. It’s not too long, and this moment starts when that sweet new electric DeLorean creeps into frame. No, it’s not a multiversal Doc Brown coming to warn Dom and Letty that something’s gotta be done about their kids. Rather, it’s the following moment that Louis Leterrier revealed when pressed for more information:

What that scene says, and how it informs the post-Fast X future is yet to be determined. Then again, with the next chapter being pushed into 2025 and all work being suspended until the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes conclude, there’s still a chance that whatever this moment connects to could change. At the very least, Louis Leterrier knows how the Fast Saga ends, so there surely couldn’t be too much changing at this point, could there?

Fast X viewers now have a lot of fun in store for themselves, as anything could be a hint towards how it’s all going to close out. But while you’re scouring for threads to the future, don’t forget to be in the present. Enjoy the latest points on the Fast & Furious timeline presented in this sequel, and don’t forget to have fun with Jason Momoa being a totally bicon as Dante Reyes. Who knows if those Fast & Furious 11 changes will make him less fun in the next outing?

It’s hard to believe that there was a time when we thought Fast X would be the end of the franchise. The movie has now come out, and we’re expecting at least one more movie in the “main” franchise, and there are several spinoffs in development. In addition to the newly announced spinoff starring Dwayne Johnson, we are still expecting a female-led Fast & Furious movie, though one of the franchise’s top women, Michelle Rodriguez, has indicated she might not be a part of it.

The newest Fast & Furious movie can now be found on Peacock, so everybody can get caught up on the franchise. It’s been several years since we first heard about plans to make a Fast & Furious spinoff focused on the women in the franchise. We haven’t seen a lot of movement, but in the run-up to Fast X Vin Diesel confirmed the movie was still in development. One would assume that Michelle Rodriguez, who has the largest role of any actress in the film series, would be a big part of it. But she previously indicated to Variety that she’s getting ready for a new generation to take the lead, saying… 

The idea of a Fast & Furious movie that focuses on women but doesn’t include Rodriguez’s Letty seems unlikely on its face, but her statement doesn’t necessarily mean that she wouldn’t be interested in the movie at all. She could also be saying that she simply isn’t looking to front the movie. We could certainly see a spinoff where Letty appears, but just isn’t the focus.

While there has been talk of this movie for some time, we don’t really know anything about it. While there are several women who could appear in it who are already part of the franchise, from Jordana Brewster to Charlize Theron, and now we can include recently returned Gal Gadot in the mix, we could also see new characters as well. Since this spinoff clearly won’t be happening until the main franchise is over, we could even see new characters introduced before we get to the spinoff.

But before this spinoff, we’re getting at least one more. A movie starring Dwayne Johnson, that is being called a spinoff but will act as a bridge between Fast X and Fast X: Part 2, or Fast 11 or whatever it’s going to be called, is currently in development. Beyond Johnson himself, and very likely Jason Momoa as Dante, it’s unclear who else may be appearing in that one. 

What is clear is that the Fast & Furious franchise is still a big money maker, so while the main story may be coming to an end, there’s a good chance we’ll continue to see these spinoffs for as long as they continue to make money.  

The Fast & Furious franchise is nearing its end and while it now seems clear that we will be getting at least two more movies before it’s all said and done, just what those movies will entail is far less clear. The Fast X ending left us on a serious cliffhanger with Jason Momoa’s Dante with the clear upper hand. So we know we’ll be seeing him again, but it sounds like when we do, he may not be quite the same character that he was before.

Jason Momoa’s Dante was widely seen as the best part of Fast X so we can be sure fans of that film will be looking forward to seeing him again. When that happens, however, it sounds like we’ll be seeing something new. Speaking with Empire director Louis Leterrier says that Dante will “evolve” in the next film. He explained… 

Jason Momoa walked a fine line in Fast X that saw Dante balance malice with humor in a way that certainly appeared to audiences. Momoa stole almost every scene he was in. And while it seems likely a lot of people would just be happy with more of that, it appears the goal will be to not try and repeat the past, but instead try and do something new.

Certainly seeing a massive character shift for Dante would be unlikely. He still has to come across as the same character, especially considering we expect the next Fast & Furious movie to pick up right where the last film left off. But it’s not hard to see that perhaps Dante’s plan, having reached a certain point of either success or failure by the next time we see him, could be undergoing a change-- maybe giving in to one side or the other of his dual personality.

When exactly we’ll see this evolution for Dante is a little less clear. The Fast & Furious franchise situation at this point, as far as we know it, is that there will be two more movies. The next film is being called a spinoff that will star Dwayne Johnson’s Hobbs, who returned in the Fast X mid-credits scene. The film is supposed to bridge the gap between Fast X and the final movie, which is either Fast X Part 2 or Fast 11 depending on how you want to count.

Comments made by Jason Momoa certainly indicate he expects to appear in the Dwayne Johnson movie, so depending on exactly where in the timeline it fits, perhaps we could see Dante’s evolution begin there. Or perhaps it will be that movie that starts the change in the character and leads to whatever it is we will see in the final movie. 

Working with Vin Diesel is an experience that’s generated plenty of stories throughout the entertainment landscape. But what’s it like to really work closely with Dominic Toretto himself? Well, Fast X director Louis Leterrier has his own stories to contribute, and they include a sweet text message ahead of the 11th installation in the long-running and "family"- oriented franchise. 

Louis Leterrier And Vin Diesel’s Long Days On Fast X

Leterrier's fandom in regards to the entire series was pretty clear when I sat down with him as part of the promotion of Fast X’s recent home entertainment release from Universal. Of course, merely being an admirer of this franchise isn’t enough to plot a true course in crafting its narrative. With the abrupt nature of hiring the director to step in for previous co-writer/director Justin Lin came a rapid course of action that needed non-stop movement.

Luckily, working with Vin Diesel helped the Transporter series veteran hit the ground running. Speaking with CinemaBlend, Louis Leterrier revealed just how much he and his Fast X star put their heads together as follows: 

This story is a welcomed contrast to the stories about behind-the-scenes beef between Vin Diesel and Dwayne Johnson, which have famously made headlines from time to time. (Though that disagreement may have found a resolution, as Johnson’s return in Fast X’s mid-credits tease shocked the world after all that was reported.)

Although it shouldn’t be surprising to anyone who’s followed the production of the ninth sequel in the Fast and Furious timeline. Louis Leterrier’s story about some extreme Jason Momoa improv that made it into the finished film can attest to the how much he relishes working with his actors and giving them space to try things. 

If there’s anything that both sides can say about Vin Diesel’s approach to the Fast Saga, it’s that he’s definitely a man with a vision. That sort of planning is extremely important when you’re about to end a series, which may or may not result in the expansion into a trilogy teased by Diesel during Fast X’s premiere. 

To be fair, that prospect has not been confirmed or denied yet, as Louis Leterrier’s recent update on the end of Fast  was made pretty clear. Though while there’s no work allowed on the development of Fast & Furious 11 as part of the ongoing 2023 strike actions on behalf of the WGA and SAG-AFTRA, that doesn’t mean the subject has escaped the minds of either collaborator. 

The Sweet Text Vin Diesel Sent Louis Leterrier

Based on what we know about Fast & Furious 11, the literally explosive cliffhanger to Fast X is set to be resolved at some point in 2025. That may not feel like it’s too close for comfort, but considering that there may be a third part in the works, and there’s more than likely no script for the immediate follow-up, that’s a lot of pressure. Though neither Louis Leterrier nor Vin Diesel sound like they're feeling the crunch in the moment.

Further reflecting on Vin’s dedication to the franchise, Louis admits he didn’t think their partnership would still be going. But as you’ll read below, this pair of Fast friends is just waiting to get back to work: 

Who knows when the twin strike actions in Hollywood will be resolved, allowing major productions to resume development and production? Those negotiations will play out in due time, with a hopeful resolution that pleases all sides involved. When that day comes, you’ll probably be able to smell the rubber that the Fast Saga family are about to burn from wherever you’re standing.

With such a strong spirit of cooperation between Louis Leterrier and Vin Diesel at work, all things are possible, like a ‘69 Dodge Charger escaping an exploding dam. Whether you’re shocked by that statement or reliving it in your head right at this moment, Fast X will allow you to experience it in the comfort of your own home. Thanks to digital and physical versions now being available for rental or purchase, family’s just a click away. 

In the flurry of activity that saw Fast X come to life on set, director Louis Leterrier developed a pretty keen relationship with two of the film’s major leads. Thanks to his bonding with star Vin Diesel, the Transporter franchise veteran was given inspiration for the serious and grounded side of this major film equation. Meanwhile, Leterrier and his work with on-screen villain Jason Momoa helped create a moment that fans are still talking about, thanks to Dante Reyes having a spa day with some pretty un-lively company. 

How Dante Reyes’ Beauty Skills Found Their Way Into Fast X

As another exciting story from my interview with Louis Leterrier, this further examination into one of the Fast Saga’s latest memorable moments came at the perfect time. Celebrating the home entertainment release of Fast X, we dug into the the details of the 9th sequel to The Fast and the Furious; which included some more background information regarding that moment where Dante painted the nails of two dudes who went from helpful to dead. 

This part of our conversation was inspired by Jason Momoa’s hopes that Leterrier used his “safer” Fast X takes in the finished film. Knowing that the Aquaman lead was putting in some extreme takes, I was curious as to how many of those 11 moments wound up in play for the finished product. It was that inquiry that led Louis Leterrier to share with CinemaBlend the following story on the Momoa work ethic and how those corpse makeovers came to pass: 

It’s roughly at the halfway point of the latest Fast Saga chapter when we see Dante opening up to two dead henchmen that he more than likely claimed on his road to revenge. Painting the toes of those men, while lounging around in a pink Versace robe and pearls, Momoa’s latest villain made dying for two minutes sound both horrifying and hilarious. 

The spontaneous moment managed to put him back into the movie just enough before taking him out for another stretch. According to Jason Momoa’s story of how this self care day from hell came together, that was exactly the point of this exercise in letting loose. 

As such a tight deadline loomed over losing the film’s villain to another commitment, there was a perceived need to see more of this dastardly funster at work. One day of brainstorming and improv later, Louis Leterrier had another prime example of Momoa as the metaphorical devil on his shoulder. Which, as it turns out, helped counterbalance the sort of energy that Vin Diesel was bringing to Fast X.

Why Vin Diesel And Jason Momoa Are The Angel And Devil Of Fast X

It must also be noted that Louis Leterrier was pretty close with Vin Diesel during Fast X's production. In a partnership he thought would only be a short term arrangement, the director and star became equally invested in talking out how to shape the story they were telling. 

Even during our interview, Leterrier admitted that while they couldn’t work on anything involving what happens after Fast X’s cliffhanger ending, he and Diesel are still texting and amping each other up for when the time will eventually come. In that respect, Vin Diesel’s energy as a collaborator is the angel on Louis Leterrier’s shoulder. 

He laid it out as much when describing to CinemaBlend how he valued the sun and the moon that is his relationship with the Diesel/Momoa duality: 

If you’re trying to remember where those Princess Leia buns came into play, it’s that same spa day scene that we’ve been talking about this whole time. While we probably won’t see the swearing that ensued in some of those “11” style takes, it’s good to know that some of the most outrageous contributions from Jason Momoa’s wild imagination led to such entertaining results.

Here’s hoping that Fast & Furious 11 ends up allowing Jason Momoa to push the envelope further, as it sounds like Louis Leterrier is still up for some craziness in the near cinematic future. Just as one can hope that Mr. Momoa can keep the insane energy flowing through Fast & Furious 11, Mr. Diesel's keen eye on story is just as important. With at least one sequel planned to close out this pop culture phenomenon, both sides will be important in the name of giving the public what they want.

In their own respects, both men know how to polish what's in front of them, and Louis Leterrier knows it. If you haven’t caught up with the ridiculously fun energy of Fast X, the film is currently available for rental or purchase on both physical and digital formats. If you want to make it a true marathon though, you can catch the first five installments of the Fast Saga streaming through your Netflix subscription, and then jump right in after that point to enhance Dante Reyes’ story.

All of the bonkers decisions pertaining to Fast X’s Jason Momoa’s Dante Reyes come from a chaotic, but truly exciting place. One such choice even introduced a moment where director and Fast Saga superfan Louis Leterrier didn’t know how Vin Diesel was going to react. You see, it sounds like the infamous “Dommy” nickname that Dante gave his foe in this latest entry sounds like it was an improvisation choice that had even Leterrier lost in the moment. 

Thanks to my recent interview with the writer/director on behalf of Fast X now being available for rental or purchase on digital and physical media, all sorts of fun stories like these were shared. As Universal was gracious enough to set up this press day, digging into all things Toretto v. Reyes was an easy feat that led to a lot of enthusiasm. 

Of course, knowing that Louis Leterrier’s Fast fandom inspired specific choices for this ninth sequel already made the case that the Incredible Hulk director was the perfect choice to step in when previous director Justin Lin departed. Even with the series lore and formula firm in his mind, Leterrier shared with CinemaBlend his recollection of that moment, through this anecdote:

The scene in question harkens back to what Louis Leterrier wanted to bring back to the Fast movies: quarter-mile racing action. Using Dante Reyes as the villain of Fast X was a perfect vehicle for such a wish, as that 2011 entry in the Fast and Furious movies in order was the fork in the road that led to more espionage-flavored adventures like Furious 7. 

With his unique understanding of a series he’s loved since his time making The Transporter, Louis is deep in the paint that is Fast X’s backstory. And when you’re that much of a fan, it tends to make for engrossing cinema. The only problem with that sort of love is, as you’ll read below, it can be a bit distracting while watching Jason Momoa call Vin Diesel made up nicknames: 

To be fair, Louis Leterrier could have blown it big time when filming Fast X and the return to street racing in Brazil. As he previously admitted, it was hard to keep it together when watching Jason Momoa initially coin the name “Dommy.” So while he forgot to call time on a decent number of takes, at least he didn’t ruin any with untimely laughter. It’s always easier to trim some dead air than to cover up another more vocal form of enthusiasm. 

Excitement is something that is definitely in the air for Fast X thanks to that film now being available for your home enjoyment. At the moment, digital and physical versions are on the market, whether you want to rent or own this latest joyride for your own. While we don’t know when it’ll be making its streaming debut, odds are you’ll want to have an active Peacock subscription when that time comes, as that’s the presumed finish line for this future streaming title.

Back in 2020, it was announced that the main Fast & Furious film series would conclude after two more movies, with that penultimate installment, Fast X, hitting theaters this past May. However, shortly before the public was able to see the movie, Vin Diesel teased at the Fast X world premiere that the Fast Saga would instead wrap up with a trilogy rather than a duology. That has yet to be officially confirmed though, and now director Louis Leterrier has shared an update on the Dominic Toretto actor’s recent comments.

Leterrier was tapped to replace Justin Lin one week into Fast X’s production, and he even went so far as to rewrite the whole movie overnight. The end result has made over $719 million worldwide and ranks as the fourth highest-grossing movie of 2023 so far, but even before the movie came out, Leterrier was officially announced to be helming Fast 11, a.k.a. Fast X: Part II. However, on the subject of whether Fast 12 is truly in the cards or not, the filmmaker started off by saying the following to Total Film:

So right off the bat, Louis Leterrier attributed what Diesel had to say at the Fast X press line several months ago as just something to get out of still being interviewed. And to be fair, considering that F9 saw Roman Pearce and Tej Parker traveling into outer space, the Fast & Furious franchise placing an action set piece on the Moon isn’t that farfetched. Still, if we were working off the above statement alone, it might come across as Leterrier saying that we shouldn’t get our hopes up about Fast 12 happening.

However, as you’ll see in his below remarks, a Fast X trilogy isn’t necessarily off the table. For now, only Fast 11 is a sure thing, and Leterrier is content enough with that and Fast X being so successful. As he laid out:

Needless to say that if Fast 12 is officially announced by Universal Pictures to extend the grand Fast Saga finale, we’ll inform you about it. Having said that, while only one more main Fast & Furious installment is officially on the books right now, there is another spinoff on the way following 2019’s Hobbs & Shaw. Fast X’s end-credits scene featured a cameo from Dwayne Johnson’s Luke Hobbs, and a few weeks after the movie’s release, it was announced The Rock will reprise the role for a “mid-quel” set between Fast X and Fast 11. Additionally, there’s still talk about potentially making a female-led Fast & Furious spinoff, with Jordana Brewster sharing her enthusiasm for the idea during the Fast X press circuit.

While we wait for more news on what the Fast Saga’s future holds in store, Fast X can now be purchased digitally or on physical media, and it’s a good bet it’ll be made available to stream with a Peacock subscription pretty soon. Check out the 2023 movie release schedule to learn what movies are left to come out this year.

Fast X, one of this summer's biggest films, marks the beginning of the end for Dominic Toretto and his family. It's the first in a potential trilogy of entries that close out the Fast Saga, and writer/director Louis Leterrier’s status as a fan led him to a very specific direction while taking on the cinematic feat. His wishes came down to one element that was part of this franchise’s bedrock but had also taken a backseat to some of the more action-intense storylines presented in recent years. The filmmaker wanted to see cars racing again, and there was one vehicle he knew had to be in his movie as a result. 

Who better to reveal this fact than Louis Leterrier himself, which is exactly what he did when I had the pleasure of speaking with him for Fast X’s home entertainment release. Considering that Universal’s 2023 movie release is now currently available for digital and physical rental or purchase, it was the right time to dig into his admiration for the series he’s been following since 2001’s The Fast and the Furious. Leterrier’s love for this franchise was on full display, and part of that fandom shone brightest when he was discussing the moment he stepped in after previous director Justin Lin surprisingly departed.

While speaking with CinemaBlend, here's what the Incredible Hulk helmer thought was his first priority when he first got the keys to the Fast Saga: 

If you've followed the Fast and Furious timeline, then you can probably see how the handling of the vehicles began changing with 2011’s Fast Five. That crucial installment saw the drama of street racing and underground criminal activity make way for larger-scale capers. While personal grudges would continue to pop up, the threats became more global, with villains like Cipher (Charlize Theron) and Owen Shaw (Luke Evans) joining the fray. 

The days of racing for pinks and literally watching chemicals course through a car's vital systems seemed to be gone the moment macguffins like God’s Eye, or any other objects of remarkable and insane Fast Saga tech, came into frame. However, Fast X’s Dante Reyes (Jason Momoa) symbolizes a unification of the two eras, conveying that attitude of evolution in a destructively entertaining way. 

Reyes' conception might even be the one element that shows the Transporter franchise veteran’s full grasp of all things Fast. Linked to a crucial point in the series' narrative, Dante is up with all of the high-tech toys that have become endemic to the Fast Saga -- but isn’t above killing a quarter mile at a time. 

As for that one car Louis Leterrier saw as the ultimate symbol of the series, it was none other than Dom’s 1969 Dodge Charger. While it wasn’t likely that the iconic muscle car would be absent from Fast X, that didn’t stop Leterrier from falling in love with it all over again. Once again talking the evolution of this cinematic crowd-pleaser, the director opened up about these feelings that engulfed him when first seeing that automotive beast on set: 

While the current WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes have relegated any production on Fast and Furious 11 to the starting line, Louis Leterrier admits the Fast Saga’s ending is already plotted out. The moment negotiations allow everyone to return to work with a mutually beneficial deal, you can bet Leterrier and his Fast family will jump into action at a moment’s notice. As a fan of the series, and its current steward, that responsibility is something he obviously takes great pride in; with the franchise’s future being all the more promising as a result. 

If you want to catch up on the first five Fast Saga installments, you can use your Netflix subscription to return to those early days of street races and vault chases. But don’t forget to also check out Fast X, which is currently available for rental or purchase on Digital HD and physical media. 

Love them or hate them, the Fast & Furious franchise has a long history of great villains that have pushed Dom Toretto and company to their breaking points on more than one occasion. And while it always seemed like Charlize Theron’s Cipher was the epitome of pure evil with her introduction in Fate of the Furious, the cunning and dangerous cyber-terrorist more than met her match in Jason Momoa’s Dante Reyes in Fast X.

In an exclusive clip for the Universal Pictures Home Entertainment release of Fast X, director Louis Leterrier opened up about the Fast X villain and why his character topped everything that Cipher pulled off in the franchise’s previous two installments:

Leterrier, who jumped into the director’s chair after Justin Lin’s shocking departure from the project in April 2022, wasn’t alone in thinking that Dante was a dynamic and dangerous foe for the Toretto crew. Later in the clip, Charlize Theron revealed what kind of impression Jason Momoa made during their first scene together during the Fast X shoot, saying:

Theron, who knows a thing or two about playing evil and charismatic characters in and out of the “Fast Saga,” seems to have been taken aback by Momoa’s performance and over-the-top appearance, which is actually something that the Game of Thrones star pitched himself:

Watching the clip only reiterates the fact that the stand-out member of the Fast X cast was also the actor having the most fun making the 2023 action spectacle. From bringing destruction to Rome to blowing up a dam to being a part of one of the franchise’s most disturbing scenes, Momoa was firing on all cylinders in his debut. 

While the latest entry isn’t the best Fast & Furious movie, Momoa was a highlight of the movie, as pointed out in CinemaBlend’s official Fast X review. It’s going to be great to see how the character is further developed in the upcoming Fast & Furious 11 (or whatever it ends up being called).

You can go back and relive Jason Momoa’s absurdly fun performance as Dante Reyes, especially in the whole spa day scene, by grabbing a copy of Fast X on 4K, Blu-ray, DVD, and Digital at online retailers like Amazon. After doing that, make sure to check out our breakdown of the Fast X ending to see what’s in store when the franchise picks up in the near future. Also, don't forget to check out the other great 2023 DVD releases set for release in the coming weeks and months.

Spoilers for Fast X are ahead. If you haven’t seen the 2023 movie schedule entry, you can buy it online now.  

While there are a ton of sick car stunts and set pieces throughout Fast X, one of the most epic fights of the film happens when Michelle Rodriguez’s Letty and Charlize Theron’s Cipher brawl while trying to escape from the black site prison. Considering the two women have been in the Fast and Furious franchise for a while, seeing them go head-to-head was legendary. Now, a new video has shown how the fight came together, making it an even cooler action sequence from the latest Fast film. 

Louis Leterrier, the director, Oliver Schneider, the supervising stunt coordinator, Rodriguez and Theron all spoke about the making of this sequence in a new BTS video shared by Collider. It shows the scene and the crew talking about how they made it, and as Samantha Vincent, a producer of Fast X put it, this fight was a “battle royale.” Check it out:

Seeing one of Fast and Furious’ iconic villains go up against Letty, who is an OG and a total badass, was a highlight of the movie. However, learning that this was done practically, made it even better. Louis Leterrier broke down the fight a bit further in the above video, saying:

Michelle Rodriguez gave some insight into Letty’s feelings in that moment, noting she was “pretty angry” about it all, which is understandable. Considering Cipher was responsible for the death of Little B's biological mom, and she caused a lot of other damage to the family in The Fate of the Furious, it does make sense that this fight happened. There was a lot of pent-up anger, and Letty finally got her chance at payback. 

So, to show that anger, and to give these two women an epic fight scene, they worked to create a practical battle. Oliver Schneider, the second unit director and supervising stunt coordinator, noted this as he said:

On top of all this, the two actresses shot their fight in Fast X without a director. Rodriguez explained that they “nailed it,” and she complimented Theron’s performance, saying she was a “monster.” She also noted that after Justin Lin left they continued shooting, saying they “kept that train running.” Then, Leterrier took over, and she noted that he “saved our ass.” 

Along with the sick battle between Letty and Cipher, they also broke down Charlize Theron’s fight toward the beginning of the film. The Oscar winner said she was “thoroughly excited about it.” She also noted that since her villain had to take on guards she had trained to escape, it made the entire scene an “amazing challenge.” 

Overall, seeing these women get such epic action sequences was incredible, and hopefully, there is more of it in the movies to come. After Fast X’s ending, we know Gal Gadot’s Gisele will be making a return, and she’ll be paired with the two women since she saved them. So, I think it’s safe to say there are more phenomenal fight scenes like the one between Letty and Cipher in the near future. 

To borrow a metaphor from the franchise, the finish line for the Fast And Furious series has never really been in sight. A devastating emotional blow was dealt during the making of Furious 7 when Paul Walker died in an off-set car crash, but his co-stars have kept the legacy of Brian O'Conner alive with three more sequels since then, and each installment continues to make hundreds of million dollars globally. Star Vin Diesel has contributed to confusion about the plans to wrap things up, saying a few months ago that plans for a final duology might actually be a full trilogy – but Fast X director Louis Leterrier has assured fans that the grand finale is legitimately in sight. 

Exactly how the Fast & Furious series will conclude remains a mystery maintained by the filmmaker, but he recently told Collider that there is a plan for the way things will end. Elements that take place between the end of the most recent sequel and the big endgame may change as further work is done developing the untitled Fast & Furious 11 (not to mention the Dwayne Johnson's upcoming Hobbs-centric feature that is in the works), but there is a specific vision for where the last movie leaves Dominic Toretto and his family. Said Leterrier,

After watching the most recent installment of the Fast & Furious franchise, "truly surprising" is actually believable. Jason Momoa's Dante is one of the most chaotic big screen villains we've seen in a while, and the end of Fast X specifically veers away from tired tropes and cliches that weighed down Fate Of The Furious and F9. It's unclear which members of Dom's family are going to live and who is going to die, and that uncertainty makes for a terrific foundation for a big surprise. 

Continuing, Louis Leterrier addressed the fact that delivering an ending that is going to satisfy the fans is a complicated endeavor, but the idea is to ride a particular line:

Simply put, the desires of fans can be oxymoronic or paradoxical. On the one hand, audiences want to see events and conclusions that they've pictured in their own minds for years and years, and on the other, they want to witness events and conclusions that they never could have imagined. Doing both is impossible, and yet it's constantly asked of franchise filmmakers.

What we will see at the end of the franchise is one of many questions swirling around Fast & Furious 11 – but another one of them unfortunately is "when will it get made?" It looks as though fans are going to be dangling on Fast X's cliffhanger for a while now, as the sequel isn't expected before 2025, and work isn't presently being done developing the script due to the on-going WGA strike. Stay tuned for more updates about the project here on CinemaBlend, and learn about all of the other exciting films on the way to theaters in the coming months with our 2023 Movie Release Calendar.

Fresh off of her appearance in Fast X, one of the final movies in the original franchise, Meadow Walker is taking a note from Kim Kardashian’s book. The actress recently tried out the pantashoes trend, a portmanteau that is literally what it sounds like: pants combined with shoes. The actress and influence actually went a step further and didn’t even bother with a top while trying out the leggings-oriented look. It’s all about the shoe pants, people! 

With 4 million followers on Instagram, Meadow Walker’s solidly in the influencer sphere at this point, and she frequently is on the cutting edge of fashion trends. While probably not as popular as her shoutouts to her “Uncle” Vin Diesel and her throwback tributes to her lovely dad Paul Walker, she’s growing a career for herself outside of her famous “family.” You can see her latest topless Stories post, below. 

Pantashoes, also sometimes known as pantaleggings, have been popular for a few years now. Salma Hayek was a bit ahead of the curve when she wore them in 2017, but they really took off after Kim Kardashian and others started regularly rocking the look in 2021. The brand’s signature style is certainly memorable and when worn is generally “the thing” about an outfit that is most eye-catching.

The shoe leggings aren’t cheap either. They are produced by the luxury retailer Balenciaga and are priced for thousands of dollars. A white pair of Jersey Camden leggings from the brand cost $3,190. A similar pair of booties from the brand with the “toed” look that Walker is sporting will only run you $1,590, but those aren’t technically “pantashoes,” just shoes. 

Plenty of other styles of the pantaleggings do exist and other brands have started a similar take on the pant+shoe, including this notable printed look from Jeffrey Campbell. 

There have been plenty of red carpet trends in 2023, including the pantashoes. Barbiecore is also a big deal in summer 2023, as the Barbie movie's release approaches. (The flick will hit the 2023 movies schedule on July 21.) Sheer has also been a big trend on varying carpets and at plenty of events, and it's one Meadow Walker even tried out while walking the red carpet with Vin Diesel for Fast X.

Walker recently cameo'd in Fast X and will doubtless be on the red carpet for the next installment of the popular franchise. Given she went see-through for the 10th movie in the franchise, I wouldn't be surprised if she tried something trendy next time around, too. We'll keep you posted every step of the way. 

Warning: SPOILERS for Fast X are in play. If you haven’t seen the latest Toretto family drama just yet, you’ve been warned. 

Involvement in one of the best action movies is almost always an invitation to be asked whether or not you’ll be returning for a future installment. For Gal Gadot, questions about her potential role in Fast and Furious 11 have lived up to the name of the very franchise she was once part of. A recent interview saw the former Wonder Woman star fielding such inquiries yet again, and her comment was pretty surprising. 

Considering what we know about Fast and Furious 11, there’s definitely time for Gadot’s Gisele Yashar to make a proper return in the next chapter, slated for release in 2025. With that caveat in mind, the Heart of Stone star provided EW an update on what she knows, and it doesn’t sound like those details are quite fleshed out yet: 

As Vin Diesel teased a potential Fast and Furious trilogy to end the series on a high note, that could be part of circumstances that have left Gal out in the cold. When last we left the lovely Gisele in the Fast X ending, she came to the aid of Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) and Cipher (Charlize Theron) as they were escaping a secret Agency prison in Antarctica.

Yet another huge tease towards the future of the Fast Saga, Gal Gadot’s return was something that people had speculated was going to happen for some time. If it was outdone by anything, it was that Fast X mid-credits scene where Dwayne Johnson was brought back to the table as well. 

In both cases, these twists are now in play, with audiences waiting for the eventual resolution. That leads to the second and more important condition holding thing up. With the ongoing WGA writer’s strike still in play, work on either of the hypothetical scripts for Fast and Furious 11 and its supposed sequel is more than likely paused in the early stages. 

Even if there was a script in play for the immediate follow-up to Fast X, the new plan for a trilogy may have prevented a smooth transition into production and release for the tenth sequel to 2001’s The Fast and the Furious. Gal Gadot seems to have signaled as much in her statement of waiting for a script, but naturally, that viewpoint is purely speculative.

A lot of moving parts are still swirling in motion, as the Fast Saga approaches its conclusion. Gisele Yashar's return definitely counts as one of those pieces that helps keep things turning, even if the current state of the character gives us no concrete expectations on what to expect. Perhaps the recent past may hold some clues or threads as to where this long lost figure factors into the end of the road.

Fast X is currently available on PVOD, with a physical home release currently undated. Fast and Furious 11, in the meantime, is awaiting a more specific release date, with 2025 set as the year intended for that project’s debut. Gal Gadot fans won’t have to wait forever to see her kicking ass again, as her next film Heart of Stone will be available to stream for those with a Netflix subscription, starting August 11.

This summer is treating movie fans to plenty of high-budget offerings at the theater, which has made it pretty interesting to watch who’s winning the box office battle. This week featured a quartet of new releases — particularly DC’s The Flash and Pixar’s Elemental — and while those two films did unseat the previous week’s top two, both earned far less than their studios were hoping for. The former's first three days in theaters were anything but speedy, as it earned just $55.1 million. Meanwhile, the animated tale of fire and water followed with $29.5 million.

If you think that sounds low for a Pixar premiere, you are spot-on, and we’ll get into some comparisons down below. The Juneteenth and Father’s Day weekend wasn’t a complete bust, however, as Wes Anderson’s Asteroid City got off to a record-breaking start with its release in just six theaters. Check out the full Top 10 chart below, then we’ll break it all down. 

The Flash And Elemental Fall Far Below Opening Weekend Projections 

Some of the more optimistic projections had Andy Muschietti’s superhero flick flirting with nine figures, but realistically it seems Warner Bros. was hoping The Flash would make around $70 million, which would have one-upped DC’s release of Black Adam in October 2022. The Dwayne Johnson-led project earned $67 million in its first three days, but given its budget of close to $200 million, that box office win had to be taken with a grain of salt. 

Pass that salt to The Flash, because this movie, starring Ezra Miller in two different roles, cost over $200 million to make before marketing (per Deadline) and brought in just $55.1 million domestically (per The Numbers). Even with the Juneteenth holiday giving it a four-day weekend release, it’s not projected to reach the $70 million bar. This continues a rough go for films adapted from DC Comics. In March, Shazam! Fury of the Gods debuted in North America with a dismal $30.5 million.

There are still two upcoming DC movies this year, with Blue Beetle hitting theaters in August and Jason Momoa’s Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom arriving in December, so it will be interesting to see if they have better success.

The reviews probably didn’t do the movie any favors. While CinemaBlend’s Nick Venable had high praise for The Flash, it received a tepid B on CinemaScore and was rated 67 percent Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes (though its audience score was considerably better, at 86%). 

Meanwhile, this weekend’s other big release, Elemental, had been projected to bring in around $40 million domestically, but stalled out at just $29.5 million Friday to Sunday — the worst opening-weekend earnings for a wide-release Pixar movie since Toy Story in 1995, which earned $29.1 million (not adjusted for inflation). Comparing Elemental’s premiere to Pixar’s last big theatrical release, Lightyear hit the big screen a year ago with what was considered a modest win at $51 million for its domestic first-weekend earnings. Chris Evans' movie was the company’s first to be released in theaters since the pre-pandemic Onward, which made $39.1 million on its opening weekend in March 2020.

Elemental, like The Flash, is said to have cost $200 million to make, so you can bet executives are hoping this movie has long legs with its out-of-school audience this summer. Word-of-mouth advertising might help in that respect, as it was graded an A on CinemaScore and a 91% Fresh audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. The critics’ rating there is slightly lower, at 76%, but our own Dirk Libbey gave it 4 stars in his review for CinemaBlend, calling it “Pixar’s most romantic film.” 

Asteroid City Breaks Records With Limited Release In Just Six Theaters 

Wes Anderson’s sci-fi romantic dramedy premiered in just six theaters in New York and Los Angeles and still eked onto the overall Top 10 list, bringing in $790,000 this weekend. Do the math, and that means the movie earned $131,667 per theater. That’s the best per-theater performance since December 2016, when La La Land opened to $176,220 per theater, and the best for a film that opened in just six theaters (topping American Hustle’s $123,509), per Deadline.

Wes Anderson also beat his own record when it comes to per-theater earnings for a Focus Features production, beating out his 2012 coming-of-age drama, Moonrise Kingdom (which earned $130,700 from four theaters).

Asteroid City was another film that received a glowing review from CinemaBlend, with Eric Eisenberg calling it a “Looney Tunes-Esque Delight.” This movie — boasting a masterful ensemble that includes Jason Schwartzman, Scarlett Johansson, Tom Hanks, Jeffrey Wright, Edward Norton and many more — is set for wide release next week, and this seems to be one to keep our eye on. 

Transformers: Rise Of The Beasts Takes A Big Dive In Week 2 

Despite winning its opening weekend, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts took a huge hit in its second week, dropping to No. 4 with its $20 million haul. That means Anthony Ramos’ latest project fell a whopping 67% weekend-over-weekend. Rise of the Beasts topped Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse last week, but Shameik Moore’s superhero movie swung back up, falling 50% between its second and third weekends.

Things slow down a little next weekend, with the only wide release being Asteroid City (as previously mentioned). So I’m interested to see which films audiences show up to spend their money on. The lull won’t last, however, with Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny headed our way before the month’s over, and July later serving up long-anticipated titles like Barbie and Oppenheimer. Check out our schedule of 2023 new movie releases to see everything that’s coming up, and be sure to visit CinemaBlend next Sunday for more box office analysis. 

Warning: SPOILERS for Fast X are ahead!

Fast & Furious may not technically be a superhero franchise, but like like countless Marvel and DC stories, the Universal Pictures-produced film series has started building a reputation for undoing/retconning big deaths. Up until Fast X, this was best exemplified by Sung Kang’s Han Lue revealed to be alive in F9 after previously being thought to have died in a fiery blaze, but now someone new has snagged the spotlight on this front. Gal Gadot’s Gisele Yashar is back in the Fast & Furious world, and the actress finally opened up about returning for the 2023 new movie release, saying that “it just felt right this time.”

Fans last saw Gisele in Fast & Furious 6 seemingly perishing when she fell out of a moving airplane, but since she emerged from a submarine in the Fast X ending to rendezvous with Letty Ortiz and Cipher, reports of her demise were greatly exaggerated. While Gadot wasn’t willing to comment in any way on the plot twist itself, she did say the following to Total Film about being part of the Fast & Furious franchise once more:

Although a lot of people primarily know Gal Gadot for playing Wonder Woman in the DC Extended Universe, prior to being cast as Diana of Themyscira, the Fast & Furious franchise was her main claim to fame, debuting as Gisele Yashar in 2009’s Fast & Furious. She reprised the role in 2011’s Fast Five and 2013’s Fast & Furious 6, and 10 years later, she’s back in play, though the details on how Gisele survived that fall remain a mystery. For her part, Gadot acknowledged just how much Fast & Furious has meant to both her career and her personal life, and she was more than ready to jump back into the film series. Beyond that, she’s keeping mum… for now.

Gadot’s return to the Fast & Furious franchise came five months after it was announced that Wonder Woman 3 had been shelved, although it hasn’t been officially clarified yet in her version of Diana will be the new DC Universe’s Wonder Woman or not. As for when we’ll see Gisele Yashar back in action, the Fast X sequel, a.k.a. Fast & Furious 11, is the likeliest bet, as it’s already dated for April 4, 2025. However, with Dwayne Johnson having also returned to the franchise in Fast X and confirmed to be leading a Luke Hobbs spinoff movie, it’s possible Gadot could appear in that movie too since those characters share some history.

Meanwhile, Gal Gadot can next be seen starring leading the action spy thriller Heart of Stone, which premieres to Netflix subscribers on August 11, and she’ll also be seen playing the Evil Queen in Snow White, one of the 2024 movie releases. Fast X, which CinemaBlend rated 3.5 out of 5 stars, is still playing in theaters.

After years of thinking that Sung Kang’s Han Lue had died during the events of Tokyo Drift/Furious 7, the character resurfaced during F9, with it being revealed that his death had been faked. However, Han didn’t return to the Fast & Furious fold alone, as during his time in hiding, he was looking after a girl named Elle, played as an adult by Anne Sawai. Strangely though, Elle was nowhere to be seen during Fast X, but Kang has shared that the 2023 new movie release was originally supposed to acknowledge her whereabouts.

Because Han and the rest of Dominic Toretto’s crew were so busy dealing with Jason Momoa’s maniacal Dantes Reyes, it makes sense why there wasn’t time to check in on Elle during the events of Fast X, but it was still unusual that she wasn’t mentioned at all. Thanks to the below statement from Kang while speaking with Insider, we at least now know that there were plans to reference her, but they were ultimately tabled:

Sung Kang went on to talk about how discussions Diesel had with director Louis Leterrier and the Fast X producers about things like Han’s motivations, what makes him tick, what keeps him on the straight line, etc. The answer to all that was Elle, who essentially became Han’s adopted daughter when Mr. Nobody tasked him with taking care of her after her parents were killed. Kang then shared that Elle is “in school,” and while the filmmakers wanted to incorporate her into the Fast X story, “there’s just so much real estate. It’s probably for the best that Elle is getting an education rather than racing around and risking death around each corner. The actor continued:

Warning: SPOILERS for Fast X are ahead!

The good news is that with the main Fast Saga’s finale having been expanded to a trilogy, plus Dwayne Johnson’s Luke Hobbs scoring his own spinoff (not to be confused with the previously-discussed Hobbs & Shaw 2), there are plenty of places where Elle could reappear. That’s on top of another important woman from Han’s life who’s reentered the picture. The Fast X ending revealed that Gal Gadot’s Gisele Yashar, who was thought to have died in Fast & Furious 6, is also still walking the Earth, as she was seen aboard a submarine rendezvousing with Letty Ortiz and Cipher. Perhaps after she’s done reuniting with Han (we all know it’s coming), there will come a time when Gisele will meet Elle, making the former a mother figure to the latter.

In addition to still playing in theaters, Fast X is now available on premium video on demand, and it will be released on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-Ray and DVD on August 28. If you’d rather revisit Elle’s time in F9, Max subscribers can easily stream that movie.

There is no shortage of options at the theater this summer, with a number of blockbusters set to hit the big screen before Labor Day. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse enjoyed one of the best opening weekends of 2023 last week, so the fact that it’s already fallen to No. 2 shows just how fierce the competition is. In the end, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts was able to take the crown in its first three days, bringing in $60.5 million domestically, compared to the Marvel hit’s $55.4 million.

See a full rundown of this weekend’s Top 10 box office winners, then we’ll discuss it all below:

Transformers: Rise Of The Beasts And Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse Were Neck And Neck To Take Box Office Gold 

The seventh installment in live-action Transformers film franchise exceeded expectations by topping $60 million in its first three days (according to The Numbers), but taking the No. 1 spot was not a given. Following Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’s jaw-dropping opening weekend — in which it tripled its predecessor’s premiere earnings — it was quite the undertaking to dethrone Miles Morales. The news only gets better for Paramount when you look at the international numbers. Adding the $110 million brought in by moviegoers around the world puts Rise of the Beasts at $175.5 million after one weekend — well on its way to turning a profit on the estimated $200 million project.

Fans of the franchise showed up to see Anthony Ramos and Dominique Fishback (not to mention a scene-stealing Pete Davidson-voiced autobot) in the sequel to Bumblebee, despite tepid reviews from critics. Even with middling ratings, critics largely agreed the movie was an improvement on the overall series, with CinemaBlend’s review from Mike Reyes calling it “easily” the franchise’s best offering. Rotten Tomatoes seems to prove that moviegoers didn’t judge the film as harshly as the critics, as it earned a 91% audience score to go with the 52% critical consensus.

Rise of the Beasts also saw a huge gain over the 2018 premiere of Bumblebee, which opened at third place (behind Aquaman and Mary Poppins Returns) with $21 million. In its opening weekend the new movie is nearly halfway to overtaking Bumblebee’s entire domestic earnings, which topped out at $127.2 million. 

Transformers: Rise of the Beasts will have to continue to fight the other summer blockbusters, though, as evidenced by Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’s fall to second place after such a great opening weekend. It wasn’t a terrible fall, to be sure, losing 54% of its first week’s earnings to bring in another $55.4 million. But it was slightly more than the 53% that Into the Spider-Verse dropped between its first and second weekends. 

One big notch in the Win column for Across the Spider-Verse, however, is that with its $225.4 million domestic total, it has officially out-gained its predecessor, which brought in $190.2 million during its entire box office run. Globally, the sequel’s $390 million has also surpassed the first Miles Morales movie, which gained $384 million in 2018.

The Little Mermaid Crosses Another Global Milestone, But Things Don’t Look Great For The Long Term 

Disney’s live-action remake of The Little Mermaid seemed to be off to a good start with its Memorial Day weekend premiere, and even its 57% drop between its first and second weekends wasn’t too much of a concern — especially given what we saw Shameik Moore’s Spider-Man movie do. In its third weekend, the Halle Bailey-led film fell quite a bit again, losing 45% to add $22.8 million to its domestic total. When you add in $185.4 million in international ticket sales, Rob Marshall’s film has officially crossed the $400 million mark, grossing $414.2 million globally after three weeks. 

However, the movie reportedly cost $250 million to make, so it’s still got an uphill battle before it can double those production costs to declare a profit, and the fight amongst this summer’s family-friendly fare is only getting started. Disney-Pixar’s Elemental is set to hit theaters next week, along with The Flash, which comes with a PG-13 rating. The animated flick is projected to earn around $40 million next weekend, with Ezra Miller’s DC flick possibly earning upward of $100 million domestically, if the projections pan out. 

What Does That Mean For Guardians Of The Galaxy And Fast X? 

With Transformers hitting the screen this weekend and more big releases on the way, the road’s not getting any easier for blockbusters like Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and Fast X. There’s still some fight, though, in these established franchises. Chris Pratt’s film held tight to the No. 4 spot this week, adding another $7 million to its total. With $335.4 million domestically and $805.9 million worldwide, it has officially topped the original Guardians of Galaxy from 2014 (which earned $333 million domestic, $773 global). 

Meanwhile, Fast X seems to be decelerating in North America after its fourth weekend, but it’s still a global success. Holding at the fourth-best release of 2023, $514.7 million of the $652.8 million it’s earned so far has come from international markets. 

Also worthy of mention is A24’s romantic drama Past Lives, which squeaked into the Top 10 with $520,000 and change, despite its presence in just 26 theaters. The movie stars up-and-coming Asian actor Greta Lee in her second movie on this week’s list (as she also voiced Lyla in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse). It'll be interesting to see if Past Lives can continue to hang in the Top 10 amongst all of the summer blockbusters when it gets its wide release on June 23.

I’m curious to see how the Transformers: Rise of the Beasts vs. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse battle plays out in the weeks to come, especially with new players entering the game. Head back to CinemaBlend next Sunday to see how it all shakes out, and be sure to keep an eye on the schedule of 2023 new movie releases to stay up to date on what’s hitting the big screen soon. 

The Fast and Furious franchise has been a global sensation since its inception, captivating audiences with high-octane thrills and star-studded casts, becoming some of the best action movies. However, recent rumors suggested that there might have been some tension between two heavyweights from the franchise, Vin Diesel and Jason Momoa. Speculation mounted after reports emerged that Diesel was not entirely pleased with Momoa's portrayal of the villain in the box-office hit Fast X. However, the xXx star recently took to social media to put an end to these rumors and shed light on his thoughts about the Aquaman actor’s performance.

In a heartfelt Instagram post, Diesel shared a photo of himself and Momoa on set, praising the collaborative and expressive nature of the franchise's actors. He specifically highlighted the Justice League alum's portrayal of Dante Reyes, describing it as unique, special, and scene-stealing. Check out Vin's post below:

According to RadarOnline, there were rumors that Vin Diesel was unhappy with Jason Momoa, blaming him for the mixed reviews of Fast X. The gossip suggested that the Babylon A.D. actor was embarrassed by the Game of Thrones alum being hailed as the standout in the film and stealing the spotlight from the franchise.

However, The Guardian of the Galaxy star's recent social media post indicates appreciation and admiration for Momoa's portrayal of one of the Fast series' best villains. Any rumors of discord between the two actors were either fabricated or have since been resolved.

Vin Diesel has a history of feuds with fellow cast members, and a potential conflict with Momoa wouldn't be surprising. One notable feud was with Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, which became apparent through an Instagram video posted by Johnson in August 2016. The video featured behind-the-scenes footage of a prison fight scene, and Johnson's caption called out his male co-stars without explicitly naming them. It soon became apparent that Vin Diesel, who also served as a producer, was the intended target, as confirmed by TMZ's detailed report. Other co-stars like Tyrese Gibson, Ludacris, Scott Eastwood, Kurt Russell, and even Jason Statham reportedly expressed their displeasure with the situation.

Check out our timeline of the Diesel/Johnson beef if you need a recap of their conflict, but the feud between these Hollywood powerhouses has seemingly been squashed, with The Rock set to return to the Fast Saga. While it suggests discussions took place to improve their working relationship, it's uncertain if Hobbs and Dom will appear together in the next Fast installment. The former WWE star’s recent projects, which included the DC film, Black Adam, have received mixed reviews and underwhelming box office performance. His upcoming movie, Red One, will exclusively stream for anyone with an Amazon Prime Video subscription. It's possible his return to the franchise is more financially motivated than a resolution with his Furious co-star.

While it remains to be seen how Diesel and Momoa's dynamic will continue to play out on-screen, fans can take solace in the fact that the Fast and Furious franchise has a way of uniting its stars despite past conflicts. The next thrilling and possibly, final chapter in the saga is set to hit theaters on April 4th, 2025, so mark your calendars. 

When Sony Pictures Animation's Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse hit theaters in mid-December 2018, it was regarded as a critically-acclaimed release that performed well albeit not exceptionally – bringing in $35.4 million in its first three days. However, in the years since then, appreciation for the feature has only expanded, and it earned tremendous clout winning the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. Recognizing this love, it can't honestly be said that the immense success of the sequel, Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse, is all that surprising, but it is still pretty jaw-dropping that the new film more than tripled its predecessor's opening weekend numbers.

Check out the full Top 10 below, and join me after for analysis.

Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse Hype Is Very Real As The Animated Film Becomes An Instant Hit

For further context just how well, Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse is doing compared to Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse, one need only look at the latter's total haul for its entire box office run ($190.2 million) and realize that the former is 63 percent of the way to hitting that figure after just three days playing on the big screen. Worldwide, the new release has made $208.6 million so far (according to The Numbers), which is phenomenal when you realize that the record-setting 2018 hit made $375.5 million globally before it left cinemas. Needless to say, any prognostications for the film's performance based on the previous movie have gone right out the window.

In the context of 2023, it's the second best opening weekend of the year behind only Illumination Entertainment's The Super Mario Bros. Movie – which began April by making $146.4 million in its first Friday-to-Sunday. While that means that the film doesn't earn the designation of having the biggest debut for an animated feature in the calendar year, it is the most immediately successful film based on Marvel Comics, as Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse topped the numbers put up by James Gunn's Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 ($118.4 million) and Peyton Reed's Ant-Man: And The Wasp: Quantumania ($106.1 million).

With a production budget of $100 million, per The Hollywood Reporter, Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse is well on its way to becoming one of the biggest blockbuster success stories of 2023, and based on the response that the film has gotten, that's something it seems that everybody can be happy about. After social media reactions to the movie at the end of last month got fans hyped, the reviews last week only bolstered the buzz (I stand by my statement in my own Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse review that it's better than Into The Spider-Verse). At the end of its opening weekend, the movie is sporting a 95 percent approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and there's a 96 percent audience score to match it.

A huge opening weekend was really a must for Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse because there is a whole lot of competition ready to square off with it as we get deeper into summer 2023. As I noted in my box office column last week, the month of June has new anticipated and/or popular franchise titles coming out just about every Friday, with the standouts including Steven Caple Jr.'s Transformers: Rise Of The Beasts, Pixar's Elemental, Andy Muschietti's The Flash, and James Mangold's Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny.

Because of the clear appreciation that audiences are demonstrating for Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse (and the fact that it's a movie that begs to be seen multiple times), there isn't a significant threat that it will experience a 60 percent-plus weekend-to-weekend drop in its second Friday-to-Sunday, but all of those other titles are going to attract eyeballs and they are aimed at the same general demographics. Needless to say, it will be interesting to see the numbers that the animated hit puts up in the coming weeks.

Serving As Counterprogramming To Across The Spider-Verse, The Boogeyman Scares Up A Solid Opening Weekend

With Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse always destined to become the #1 Movie In America to kick off June, 20th Century Studios opted to release Rob Savage's The Boogeyman as a bit of counterprogramming on Friday, and it performed well in its big screen debut (which wouldn't have even happened had it not been for Stephen King helping to convince the studio to not just put it out on Hulu). According to Variety, the film was made with a production budget in the $30-35 million range, so a $12.3 million opening weekend doesn't render it an instantly profitable release, but it's on the way there.

The Boogeyman first started earning buzz as a proper scare fest following its debut at CinemaCon, and the full reviews that have arrived since then only further emphasized that the movie continues the impressive run that horror has had in recent months. As far as opening weekend numbers are concerned, the Stephen King adaptation didn't do as well as Gerard Johnstone's M3GAN ($30.4 million) or Lee Cronin's Evil Dead Rise ($24.5 million), but both of those films were the most high profile new releases in their respective debuts and didn't come out in the midst of the summer blockbuster season.

Could The Boogeyman have done better with a release date closer to October, taking advantage of spooky season? It's a fair question (particularly after the horror movie bonanza that we saw last fall), and one that movie fans will continue to ask while tracking the film's box office performance in the weeks to come.

The Little Mermaid Crosses $300 Million Worldwide, While Fast X Crosses $600 Million

Following its terrific box office performance during the Memorial Day holiday at the end of May, Rob Marshall's The Little Mermaid certainly saw a lot of attention steered away from it this weekend thanks to Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse, but the impact of the animated feature hasn't been devastating to the new live-action Disney remake. Not only did the film successfully avoid a 60 percent drop in its second weekend, the money earned from the last three days means that it has eclipsed $300 million worldwide – which means that it has surpassed Michael B. Jordan's Creed III for eighth place in the rankings for 2023.

Now sitting in fifth place on that same list is Louis Leterrier's Fast X. The Fast & Furious chapter has not been performing particularly well domestically (after just three weekends, it's already bringing in less than eight figures), but its performance overseas has made up for that lacking. The film has only made $128.5 million in the United States and Canada, but nearly 80 percent of ticket sales are happening overseas, and that has led to the film earning over $600 million thus far in its theatrical run.

How will things shake up in the Top 10 next week when Transformers: Rise Of The Beasts hits the big screen? Head back here to CinemaBlend next Sunday to find out, and plan your next trip to the theater with our 2023 Movie Release Calendar.

The mid-credits scene of Fast X was revealed before the movie opened for most audiences, so many people knew that Dwayne Johnson would be returning to the Fast & Furious franchise. However, we didn’t really know what that meant until more recently. Rather than simply returning for Fast & Furious 11 (or Fast X Part II as it is also being called) Johnson's Hobbs is coming back for what’s being called a spinoff film to bridge the finale, and the fans and the villain, are here for it.

Dwayne Johnson took to Instagram to confirm reports that he will be starring in a spinoff movie that will act as a bridge between the two-part Fast & Furious finale that is Fast X. Fans responded in a big way of course, but there were also some replies from the Fast Family, including Jason Momoa, who posted once as himself, but also in character as Dante, saying…

The final scene of Fast X reveals that in addition to making Dominic Toretto’s life hell, Dante is also going after Hobbs, as the man who actually pulled the trigger and killed his father. Momoa played Dante as a completely over the top character, so this response from him is absolutely perfect, but Momoa responded a second time as himself to express how excited he is to headline a movie with The Rock, in a film that will be somewhat groundbreaking for AAPI representation…

While Jason Momoa was the most excited for the upcoming movie, he wasn’t the only Fast X cast member to respond. Ludacris did as well. He dropped the “look of triumph” emoji, so he’s clearly also excited that Hobbs is back in the family.

Fans also had a lot to say about the return of Dwayne Johnson. As one might expect, 99% of the responses are positive. These are mostly fans of Johnson or Fast & Furious, or both, that are responding, so of course they’re going to be happy to see one of their favorite stars return to the fold. As one commenter put it…

But it should be said that there are a few snide and sarcastic responses, including one who suggested that The Rock had some motivation to put his feud with Vin Diesel in the past, as his last big starring effort, Black Adam was not the success anybody was hoping for, and the character is on hold following the plan to reboot the DC Universe. As the commenter said…

While the reports are clear that this upcoming spinoff is not the long delayed Hobbs & Shaw 2 is still sounds a lot like exactly the sort of movie that I thought the next Fast & Furious movie should be, so I’m certainly excited to see what comes next. 

 Universal Studios has been making some of the best thrill rides in recent memory with success stories like my personal favorite, Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure and the possibly even better Velocicoaster at Universal Orlando Resort, but all signs point to Universal Studios Hollywood making a roller coaster of their very own. And while the rumored Fast & Furious coaster has yet to be officially confirmed, there is now even more evidence that it is happening. 

The rumor going around is that a Fast & Furious coaster is being built between the upper and lower lots and a couple of shows at the Universal Studios Hollywood have closed and the buildings are being demolished, in preparation for something. Although USH has never announced that anything new is actually coming. However, Theme Park Journalist Carly Caramanna recently posted to Instagram that she went through an area of the park where the artificial crowd and roller coaster noise was being played, which is certainly part of the upcoming attraction preparation.

Universal Studios Hollywood is a somewhat unique theme park because it’s located directly adjacent to the Universal Studios Lot. What’s more, the roller coaster’s location will be very close to an area that the iconic Backlot Tour passes through. This means that noise from the roller coaster is something that will need to be mitigated. Clearly what Universal is doing here is testing what the noise will be like in different parts of the park so that if any additional steps are needed to manage sound dampening, that can be done.

Universal Studios Hollywood only has one traditional roller coaster in the park right now, the Revenge of the Mummy ride, but it is entirely indoors, so noise isn’t an issue. The Fast & Furious coaster is expected to be entirely outdoors, and concept art has indicated it will run around the stairwell that connects the upper and lower lot. There will certainly be noise coming from this coaster, and the main park itself that’s probably not seen as an issue, roller coaster noise is just something that happens at theme and amusement parks, but there are parts of both the park and the movie studio that Universal will likely try to protect if possible.

Considering that the Velocicaoster was mostly finished before Universal Orlando Resort actually confirmed it was happening, odds are that it will be quite some time before Universal Studios Hollywood ever confirms that this new roller coaster is actually happening. At this point, the coaster itself can be all but confirmed by the work that is happening, including pumping this crowd noise around. There is barely a chance it will end up being a totally different roller coaster and not something Fast & Furious related.

The Fast & Furious franchise is easily one of the most lucrative entertainment properties ever created, as it’s generated billions of dollars for Universal Pictures since its inception. That high level of success hasn’t shielded it from behind-the-scenes drama, however, particularly beef among the FF cast and crew. Leading man Vin Diesel has been embroiled in some of that controversy over the years and, according to reports, he apparently has an issue with one of his co-stars now. And the person who Diesel is allegedly displeased with is none other than Jason Momoa, who just joined the “family” after starring in Fast X.

What’s Being Said About Vin Diesel And Jason Momoa?

Jason Momoa – who’s starred in movies like Aquaman and Dune – has become one of the most sought-after stars in all of Hollywood. And in addition to having the charisma of a true star, he’s also amassed a devoted fanbase that flocks to his films. With those details in mind, some may be surprised to hear that Vin Diesel purportedly has a problem with him. According to RadarOnline, Diesel believes that Momoa is a major reason why Fast X underwhelmed critics and is unhappy with a specific consensus among pundits: 

It’s true that Fast X received less-than-stellar reviews, but the Slumberland actor’s turn as the villainous and over-the-top Dante Reyes has been praised by fans and critics alike. Yet per a source, the Dominic Toretto actor has been telling those in his inner circle that his co-star’s “scene-stealing” and “over-acting” was detrimental to the movie’s critical reception. The insider went on to claim that jealousy factors into the reported spat: 

This report definitely needs to be taken with a grain of salt. The latest FF flick does hold a 54% critic rating on Rotten Tomatoes, as of this writing. Yet historically, Vin Diesel has always emphasized that he makes these movies for the fans, who’ve pushed the tenth installment to an 85% audience score on RT. We definitely can’t confirm just how legit these feud claims are but, if they’re true, this could become ugly like the last BTS tiff.

What Went Down Between Vin Diesel And Dwayne Johnson?

Those who followed the long and winding road that came with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Vin Diesel’s beef surely know that it got very bumpy. The feud became public when Johnson took to social media and referred to some of his co-stars as “candy asses” after they were allegedly unprofessional. After the wrestler-turned-actor’s exit from the main series, he and Diesel dropped different thoughts on their falling-out, attributing it to varying elements like “tough love” and the differences in their personalities. However, the two would later settle their differences, as Johnson returned for Fast X. This was apparently the result of a “peace treaty” brokered by director Louis Leterrier. 

It’s currently uncertain as to whether one of those will be needed for Vin Diesel and Jason Momoa. What some may agree on at this point, though, is that the star was indeed a scene-stealer in his debut and has now helped create one of the best FF villains. We’ll just have to wait and see if there’s truly any validity to these claims. 

Admit it: as a fan of The Fast and the Furious series of films, disbelief has officially been permanently suspended. Cars can fly, and sometimes the plots of the past need a little fudging to introduce a Jason Momoa-level threat in Fast X. But sometimes there’s an aspect --- like the haircut on Sung Kang’s Han in one particular scene -- that really brings the continuity into question. Strangely enough, the filmmakers knew they were playing with fact-based fire, but just rolled with it anyway. 

Han Lue’s Hairy Fast And Furious Continuity Error

For those of you who love the death-defying driver introduced in The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, you may have noticed something interesting in the newer 2023 movie release. In case you missed it, or were uncertain, yes Han's hair does change between the two different versions of his reunion with previous foe Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham).

In the F9 mid-credits scene, the character has a pretty short cut on display when he makes the fateful visit; which technically takes place four years in the future. This timeline-questioning scene plays out in the middle of Fast X, with Han now sporting a longer head of hair. Half of the reason for this mix-up is because of a decision that Sung Kang made during the production of F9, which he revealed in an interview with Insider:

As if Han Lue’s Fast Saga history wasn’t already interesting enough, we as fans now have dueling hairstyles to keep track of. Sure enough, the decision to revert to Han’s classic look for Fast X was just as purposeful.

Why Fast X Rolled With That Han Error Anyway

It should be no surprise that Sung Kang was just as in the dark about when F9’s big Han and Shaw reunion took place on the timeline of events. In fact, it’s thanks to this scene that some major takeaways and theories about Fast X’s mid-credits scene have come to light, with its placement in the timeline being one of them.

So why would the actor bring his original hairstyle back for a scene that’s already established in the timeline? One reason: the fans. Here’s how he explains why his classic do was due to return:

Thematically, this all tracks. Lue’s path from supposed death to resurrection has been a Fast Saga thread that’s caught the attention of fans since the Fast and Furious timeline started to skew in his favor in 2009’s Fast & Furious. That said, there was a conscious effort to try and hide this difference without cutting the actor's hair again, which led to the following compromise:

As you can see in the photo above, put together from the Fast X trailer footage that showed Han’s return, that hair tuck is as close as things were going to get without digital magic. It’ll be interesting to see who noticed this continuity error and who didn’t, as it is a scene that leads quickly into an adrenaline-fueled showdown between The Agency’s finest and members of Dominic Toretto’s family.

So if you happen to stumble upon this scene down the line as this summer blockbuster heads home, know that it was all part of the plan. A plan that may now see Fast X’s narrative turn into one final trilogy, which could lead to even more hairstyle changes for Sung Kang and co.

You know you’re going to want to go back to F9 and watch that mid-credits sequence all over again, and that’s only natural. It’s also very easy to do, as at the time of this writing, you can catch the previous Fast Saga entry with access to a Max subscription. Next up, Fast and Furious 11 is revving up its engine and we'll keep you posted every step of the way.

Thus far, Summer 2023 has pretty much gone as predicted. Marvel Studios kicked off May with the release of James Gunn's Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, which successfully dominated for the first two weekends of the month, and then Louis Leterrier's Fast X replaced it in the top spot at the box office. Now, Rob Marshall's The Little Mermaid has swum up to enchant audiences for the extended Memorial Day holiday, and it has lived up to expectations in regards to ticket sales – though its success has also notably left the latest Vin Diesel blockbuster floundering domestically. 

Check out the full Top 10 for the weekend below, and join me after for analysis!

The Little Mermaid Is Already Set To Cross $100 Million Domestically, And Surely Will Thanks To Memorial Day

The Little Mermaid was far from a cheap movie to produce. According to Variety, the live-action remake of Disney's animated classic cost a whopping $250 million to make – and that's not a figure that includes publicity and marketing expenses. As a result of this, there was no expectation that the film would be able to break even after its opening weekend, but the film is certainly off to a great start.

The Numbers is reporting that the Rob Marshall musical has made an estimated $95.5 million through its first three days in theaters domestically, which means that it will quickly join 2023's nine figure club by the time cinemas close up shop on Monday night. It's the fourth best start for a blockbuster in the United States and Canada thus far this year – sitting behind Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic's The Super Mario Bros. Movie ($146.4 million), Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 ($118.4 million), and Peyton Reed's Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania ($106.1 million).

By 2023 standards, it's a hot start for the film, but the numbers lose a bit of their sheen when you look at the results compared to the other major live-action remakes Disney has produced in the last few years – particularly those based on the animated hits that were released in the late 1980s and 1990s. The Little Mermaid had a better opening than Guy Ritchie's Aladdin from 2019, but Jon Favreau's The Lion King made $191.8 million domestically in its first three days, and Bill Condon's Beauty And The Beast scored $175.8 million.

Overseas, the new blockbuster has made $68.3 million, which brings its global total to $163.8 million. Based on results from CinemaScore surveys (which have given the film an "A" grade) and a 95 percent Audience Score on Rotten Tomatoes (contrasting a tepid critical response), movie-goers seems to be enjoying the film, and that will hopefully lead to positive word of mouth – which the movie is going to need if its wants to ultimately be seen as a box office success. 

As noted, The Little Mermaid will get nice boost from the three-day holiday weekend, but there are potentially rough waters ahead for the film in the month of June. Similar to how the March release schedule was packed tight with major releases coming every Friday, the sixth month of 2023 is stacked. Joaquim Dos Santos, Justin K. Thompson, and Kemp Powers' Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse is now just days away from hitting theaters, and its anticipated to be hugely popular. In the weeks that follow, we'll see the release of Steven Caple Jr.'s Transformers: Rise Of The Beasts, Andy Muschietti's The Flash, Peter Sohn's Elemental and James Mangold's Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny.

That wave of titles may end up giving The Little Mermaid trouble as it tries to stick around in the Top 5, so its best shot to be considered a true win for Disney is making as much money as possible in the short term. In other words, the film doesn't want to suffer a similar fate to what's happening with Fast X this weekend.

Fast X Has A Rough Second Weekend, But Simultaneously Crosses $500 Million Worldwide

With a budget even higher than The Little Mermaid's ($340 million, per The Wrap), Fast X is in a box office situation with much higher stakes, and things are not going nearly as well. The film had just the seventh-best three day for a blockbuster in the action franchise – making $67 million – and while ticket sales overseas are helping to balance out that low figure, things aren't going super well on the domestic front in the movie's second weekend.

Following a feature's theatrical debut, a weekend-to-weekend drop of anything higher than 60 percent is bad news, and the $23 million brought in domestically by Fast X since Friday is a 66 percent fall. That's not as rough as the 70 percent dip that Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania made headlines with in February, but that movie also cost $140 million less to make than the latest installment of the Fast and the Furious franchise.

While things aren't going so well in the United States and Canada for Fast X, Universal Pictures probably isn't sweating Vin Diesel's promise of a series-ending trilogy too much thanks to the business that is being done by the blockbuster abroad. The movie is now on the verge of crossing $400 million in foreign markets, which means its worldwide total presently sits at $507.3 million. It's now ranked as the fifth biggest film of 2023 – a list that is topped by The Super Mario Bros. Movie ($1.3 billion) and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 ($731 million).

With Intellectual Properties Dominating, Smaller New Releases Populate The Middle And Bottom Of The Weekend Box Office Top 10

There was no chance that this weekend at the box office was going to end any other way than with The Little Mermaid on top, but that didn't stop competing studios from putting out a number of new releases in time for Memorial Day. Three more new movies were released in over 2,000 locations this past weekend, taking over the middle of the Top 10, and the latest film from A24 – Nicole Holofcener's You Hurt My Feelings – took the number eight spot playing on just 912 screens.

Comedy fans excited to see popular stand-ups get a feature film spotlight were provided a feast this weekend thanks to both Peter Atencio's The Machine starring Bert Kreischer and Laura Terruso's About My Father starring Sebastian Maniscalco. Sony Pictures and Lionsgate opted to try and go head-to-head with these two releases for the holiday, and the former barely edged out the latter making nearly $5 million in the last three days.

Meanwhile, Ric Roman Waugh's Kandahar with Gerard Butler was unfortunately unable to replicate the success that Butler's action movie Plane had back in January. While Plane got off to a surprisingly fast start, making $10.3 million in its debut, the new movie named after a city in Afghanistan only managed to make $2.4 million.

Looking ahead, next week should yield some fascinating box office results with the current crop of movies dealing with the arrival of not only Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse but also Rob Savage's much-hyped Stephen King adaptation The Boogeyman. Be sure to head back here to CinemaBlend next Sunday to see how everything shakes out, and check out our 2023 Movie Release Calendar to discover all of the titles heading to theaters in months to come.

By this point, the seemingly never-ending success of the Fast & Furious franchise has been well-documented. The series has seen its ups and downs, sure, but it still has quite a dedicated fanbase. However, it's longevity was recently questioned, and longtime series star Ludacris has a blunt response for those wondering. The rapper and actor didn't hold back in expressing his thoughts during a recent chat, and they were as explicit as they were honest. The “Act a Fool” even says that when some ask why actors would still show up for the series, it constitutes “the dumbest fucking question” that could be asked.

The entertainer was one of the most recent guests to appear on All The Smoke with Matt Barnes And Stephen Jackson. It was there that he was hit with the ultimate question: Why do the FF cast members keep returning for more? According to him, the answer is simple: it has everything to do with that “bottom line.” He told the hosts:

The long-running iP, born in 2001 as a humble street racing film, has become an unstoppable global blockbuster sensation. Though the FF series' timeline might need some explanation, starting with Fast Five, it has undergone a remarkable transformation. And in the process, it's solidifying its position as one of the most significant and arguably best action movie franchises worldwide. 

The latest installment, Fast X, roared onto the scene and quickly raced to the top of the box office, hauling in a respectable $67.5 million domestically during its opening weekend. Despite previous plans for the penultimate and upcoming ultimate chapter of the series, Vin Diesel recently teased a potential trilogy to wrap things up. All in all, the franchise shows no signs of pumping the brakes when it comes to box office success. With each new film, audiences are treated to adrenaline-fueled action, mind-blowing stunts and a star-studded ensemble, making it a massive cash cow for Universal Pictures.

Ludacris cemented his place in the Fast & Furious family with his appearance in 2003’s 2 Fast 2 Furious, so he has had a front-row seat to the series' transformation over the past years. Recently the musician was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, where he expressed gratitude for the series that has changed his life.

The movies consistently rake in enormous profits and boast a devoted fan base, so it's no surprise that the franchise keeps racing forward. While there may be skeptics wondering if more Fast movies are necessary, the Hustle and Flow star previously expressed that he doesn’t mind the series ending. Yet his straightforward reply serves as a reminder that, in the world of entertainment, financial success speaks volumes.

Fast X raked in an impressive $387 million at the global box office in its first week. This achievement positions the film well within the franchise rankings. However, it faces stiff competition from Disney's live-action remake of The Little Mermaid, which has been dominating the Memorial Day weekend. Adding to the challenge, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 continues to draw audiences with its enduring popularity. With an insane budget of $340 million, the latest Fast movie still has some ground to cover in order to solidify its place among the franchise's most successful installments. But if you ask Ludacris, he'd probably say that he and his colleagues are sitting pretty as is.

You can see Fast X in theaters now, and check out our schedule of 2023 new movie releases to plan your next trip to the cinema.

Warning: MAJOR SPOILERS for Fast X are ahead!

In Furious 7, Fast & Furious fans were introduced to the enigmatic Mr. Nobody, the head of the equally mysterious covert government organization known simply as the Agency. Having taken notice of what Dominic Toretto and his team pulled off during the events of Fast & Furious, Fast Five and Fast & Furious 6, Nobody, played by Kurt Russell, brought our heroes into the fold to help track down terrorist Mose Jakande and the stolen God’s Eye program, and he worked with them again in The Fate of the Furious when Cipher was wreaking havoc. However, we haven’t seen Nobody in The Fast Saga since F9, and while Fast X doesn’t do much to clarify his status, I can’t help wondering if this 2023 new movie release’s secret villain is the reason why Russell’s character is still missing.

Where Things Currently Stand With Mr. Nobody

Before we get into Fast X, let’s go over where we left off with Mr. Nobody in F9. Russell chiefly reprised his character for a flashback showing how he saved Han from the car crash instigated by Deckard Shaw and faked his death so he could work for the Agency and retrieve Project Aries. Nobody also briefly seen in the present-day storyline through an emergency SOS video. He’d been transporting an incarcerated Cipher and one half of Project Aries aboard a plane, but it was attacked by Jakob Toretto and his associate Otto. The plane crashed in Montequinto, and Jakob and Otto secured both Cipher and the one half of Project Aries, but Nobody was nowhere to be found when Dom and his team arrived on the scene.

Mr. Nobody is still missing during Fast X, with Magdalene Shaw telling Dom that the only way he’ll be able to get in touch with the man is with a medium or a psychic. So with that mystery left unsolved, we instead meet Nobody daughter Tess, played by Brie Larson, as well as learn that the Agency is now being run by Alan Ritchson’s Aimes. Unfortunately, it’s revealed at the end of Fast X that Aimes has been in cahoots with Jason Momoa’s Dante Reyes stretching all the way back with Fast Five, and he’s the one who shot down the aircraft carrying Roman, Ramsey, Tej and Han. The Fast X ending certainly left a lot of questions that Fast & Furious 11 will need to answer, but I have an addition one to throw into the mix: what if Aimes is the reason that Nobody remains in the wind?

How Aimes Could be Tied To Mr. Nobody’s Disappearance

To be clear, I’m not suggesting that Aimes had anything to do with Mr. Nobody’s plane crashing. Rather, I believe Nobody took advantage of a bad situation and used the crash as a smokescreen to go underground. Prior to the plane crash, what if Nobody learned that Aimes was corrupt and was slowly seizing power within the Agency? In the midst of formulating a way to deal with this, he got caught in the crash, miraculously survived and found someplace to recover. Then sometime after F9 ended, rather than resurface, he decided to stay hidden because he only knew it was a matter of time before Aimes took control of the Agency and has him eliminated. Remaining off the grid has given him time to figure out a way to deal with Aimes, and he hasn’t even shared his whereabouts with Tess in order to keep her safe.

But there’s only so long that Mr. Nobody can stay in hiding, and given the amount of chaos Dante Reyes caused in Fast X, it stands to reason Nobody would become privy to the fact that the villain and Aimes are working together. Knowing that, as well as the precarious predicament Dom and his team are in, this forces him to come back into the open and potentially accelerate any plans he had in motion to bring Aimes down. Frankly, I wouldn’t be surprised if Nobody ends up being the one who rescues Dom and his son Brian from that dam Dante rigged with explosives. Getting Roman, Tej, Ramsey and Han out of their shot-down plane would be a little more complicated, but I’m sure Nobody could figure something out.

The Final Fast & Furious Movies Need To Resolve This Plot Thread

Had Kurt Russell not wanted to appear in the Fast & Furious movies anymore, the filmmakers could have simply killed his character and been done with it, using Tess to fill the void left in his absence. Instead, his fate is still being kept a mystery, and while The Fast Saga has certainly left some plot threads dangling here and there over the years, this one is way too big to never resolve. They’re playing a long game here, and knowing what we do now about Aimes, I have to think that whenever Mr. Nobody does return, he’ll be the key to bringing down his successor at the Agency, which in turn will weaken whatever subsequent schemes Dante Reyes has lined up.

Fast & Furious 11 will be released sometime in 2025, but Vin Diesel has indicated that The Fast Saga could end with a trilogy instead, meaning Fast & Furious 12 is also on the table. As such, there’s no guarantee that we’ll see Mr. Nobody in the next movie, but either way, this is a loose end that needs to be cleared up before all is said and done. Kurt Russell’s character has too much history with Dom and the gang to never be seen again, and now that Aimes has been revealed as a sinister player in this game, I’m hoping that plays into the reason Nobody has been missing and sets the stage for his return. At the very least, Nobody needs to reenter the picture just so we can see the kind of dynamic Russell and Brie Larson would have together.

It may be a long time until we get any significant clarification on Mr. Nobody one way or the other, but while we wait for light to be shed on this mystery, read CinemaBlend’s review of Fast X and our takeaways and theories on the latest Fast & Furious movie’s mid-credits scene. 

Louis Leterrier woke up one morning while on location in Rome, turned on the television set, and was shocked by the report leading the broadcast. Leterrier and his Fast X stunt crew had just completed a spectacular stunt sequence that involved rolling a one-ton ball through the streets of Rome… using far more practical effects than many would expect. But even though the Mayor of Rome had given Leterrier the keys to the city and encouraged them to film wherever they needed to, there was one set of Spanish steps the crew could not use. They were too fragile for a Hollywood close up, prompting the director and his team to recreate the steps on a backlot in London in order to get the footage that they needed. 

So imagine Louis Leterrier’s shock when he turned on the news in Rome to find out that the very next day after they’d completed filming, someone drove a car down those same Spanish steps, creating all sorts of damage. The director, replaying this story to CinemaBlend’s official ReelBlend podcast, was very quick to deflect any blame, explaining:

Sometimes, even in the world of The Fast and Furious franchise, life imitates art. Granted, no one is likely to try and match any of the greatest Fast & Furious stunt sequences that we have compiled. And you likely won’t be going to space any time soon. But the Maserati experience was just another indicator to Leterrier that Fast X, and all the films that came before it, have a tremendous influence over moviegoers… and that should continue for two more films. 

Louis Leterrier trained for this moment.

Louis Leterrier wasn’t supposed to direct Fast X. He received the call after original director Justin Lin jumped ship due to “creative differences.” Less than one week after receiving the call with the invitation to take over the Fast sequel, Leterrier was on set, calling “Action” on the massive summer tentpole.

To his credit, he has been preparing for this moment all of his life. Leterrier’s film credits include The Incredible Hulk with Edward Norton, Clash of the Titans, and the magic franchise, Now You See Me. But he’s been around the industry all of his life. His father was a director. His mother was a costume designer. He grew up on movie sets, studying Robert Altman, Brian De Palma, John McTiernan and more as they worked. He credits Luc Besson (The Fifth Element) with identifying him as a budding filmmaker. And he claims to have been thrown into the deep end of the pool when he received his first gig directing a feature film: 2002’s The Transporter, starring Fast X co-star Jason Statham.

Not as weird as it is following Fast X. For anyone who has seen that sequel, they know that Jason Momoa steals most of the movie as Dante, a villain seeking revenge on Dominic Toretto. And Louis Leterrier collaborated with Momoa on the movie’s most bizarre sequence involving Dante painting the toe nails of two corpses as he speaks to them as if they are still alive. It shows a dark and deranged side of the character, which Leterrier tells ReelBlend is by design.

And from the sound of it, Leterrier is just getting started. 

On to Fast 11… and Fast 12?

Because Leterrier stepped into Fast X when he did, he wasn’t able to fully prep the production the way he might have if he’d been on the movie since day one. He was able to bring some of his opinions to the material, and spoke to us about an effort to ground the action in less of the spy stuff that we see being executed in the Mission: Impossible series, or even James Bond.

This is what puts Dom (Vin Diesel) on a collision course with Dante. And it’s what is going to pull The Rock’s character, Hobbs, back into the fold. We saw the beefy hero teased in the post-credits scene, and we know he and Dante are going to mix it up. We have even speculated on CinemaBlend that Fast 11 might as well just become a backdoor Hobbs and Shaw sequel, focusing on The Rock and Jason Statham versus Jason Momoa. Who doesn’t want to see that?

For Leterrier, he’s just happy to be working on a Fast movie from the starting line. He tells ReelBlend:

Fast X is in theaters as we speak.

The following contains minor spoilers for Fast X, as revealed to CinemaBlend's Reelblend podcast.

These days digital effects in movies have become so good that literally, anything can happen. It can often be difficult to tell what in a movie was done digitally versus practically, but a good rule of thumb is that the more difficult something would have been to do practically, the more likely it wasn’t. Of course, all bets are off when it comes to the Fast & Furious franchise. It turns out that Fast X actually did roll a flaming ball of death down the streets of Rome, as director Louis Letterier revealed to us. 

The first significant action set piece, which can also be seen in the Fast X trailer, takes place in Rome when Dominic Toretto and company have to race to prevent a giant bomb from exploding and destroying the Vatican. Because this franchise is not subtle. The bomb gets loose and starts to roll through the streets and the family chases after it trying to use their cars to stop it. 

Considering the scale of the sequence, and the fact that we’re talking about a classical city with a lot of history, I certainly assumed a lot of this was done with CGI, but director Louis Letterier told our own Reelblend Podcast that a great deal of the sequence was done practically. He explained…

The simple fact that the stunt had to be executed so perfectly is usually precisely the sort of reason that a film might instead choose to go the CGI route. Things can be much more forgiving, and there’s no chance of accidentally breaking things in an ancient city if you do it all in a computer. Instead, Fast X opted to go the practical route and from what the director told us, he seemingly has no regrets. 

To note, the Fast & Furious franchise certainly hasn’t been afraid to use CGI when necessary, and with some of the more outrageous sequences, it becomes clear that’s what is happening. I'm fairly certain they didn't really go to space in F9. But considering the street racing origins of the series, a lot of what was done in the early films was done practically, and it’s nice to see them continuing to make things “real” whenever possible.

With at least one more Fast & Furious movie on the way, and possibly two more Fast X sequels according to Vin Diesel, we can look forward to a lot more action of both the practical and CGI variety. Louis Letterier is set to return for Fast & Furious 11, so we can guess that his desire to do practical action will as well. If we can't tell the difference, then that means everything worked out.