I was starting to get genuinely nervous about the future of Fast Forever. The 11th and supposedly final Fast & Furious movie has spent years drifting between announcements, delays and Vin Diesel social media posts that made production sound much further along than it actually was. Just last week, director Louis Leterrier was talking about how he “hoped” they would get to finish the franchise. That is not exactly what you want to hear about a movie already sitting on Universal’s release calendar. Now, Diesel has finally given us something considerably more concrete.
Speaking to Variety at a 25th anniversary screening of The Fast and the Furious, the Dominic Toretto actor said Fast Forever is expected to begin filming very soon. He explained:
We start shooting in December, if I can make good on the request from the studio. I’m in a good place, though. I had to go through four sets of writers, four years of development, to get to something that I felt would be worthy of a finale. And when I read the script a couple of weeks ago, [I cried].
Principal photography beginning this December, even if there is still a qualifier attached, after four years of development, is very exciting. The movie finally sounds like it may be ready to leave the garage.
However, the actor's “if” is doing a little work there, and Diesel did not explain exactly what Universal has asked of him. Still, December is the clearest production window we have gotten in quite some time.
It also clears up some recent confusion. The Bloodshot star shared footage in July that appeared to come from the Fast Forever set and told fans he needed to “get back to this filming,” which certainly made it sound like cameras were already rolling. We later learned that was not the case.
Then Leterrier complicated matters further. While discussing the finale recently, the Fast X filmmaker said he had been keeping himself busy with other projects while waiting and added that he hoped everyone would get to finish the franchise properly. He also had not yet read the latest version of the screenplay that apparently reduced the xXx helmer to tears.
Needless to say, I had questions, but Diesel's explanation that the script went through four sets of writers over four years helps explain why this has taken so long. Michael Lesslie is behind the current screenplay, and Universal has also reportedly been looking for ways to bring the enormous budgets associated with the later Fast and Furious movies back under control.
Whenever filming actually begins, Fast Forever has plenty of unfinished business waiting for it. Fast X ended with Dom and his son apparently trapped by Dante Reyes while Roman, Tej, Ramsey and Han faced a separate disaster. The movie also brought Gal Gadot’s Gisele back from the dead and used its credits scene to usher Dwayne Johnson’s Luke Hobbs back into the franchise.
Diesel has repeatedly said he wants the finale to return to Los Angeles and to the street-racing culture that started it all back in 2001. The movie is currently scheduled to hit theaters March 17, 2028, a full five years after Fast X.
After all the stops, starts, and occasionally confusing updates, a December shoot finally gives this thing a much clearer road ahead. We will not be seeing the finale on the 2026 movie schedule, or even in 2027, so there is still a long wait. But in the meantime, fans can revisit Fast X with a Peacock subscription.
