The Fast & Furious franchise was stunned when longtime director Justin Lin departed the family suddenly following disputes with series star Vin Diesel. Filling the hole he left was going to be no small task considering Lin helmed five films in the franchise starting with The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift and helped usher the series into its status as a Hollywood tentpole. If series mainstay Michelle Rodriguez is to be believed though, the franchise found a suitable director to take the wheel for the upcoming Fast X in Louis Leterrier.
Leterrier is no stranger to directing high-octane action flicks or blockbusters. In the 2000s, he sat behind the camera for the Jason Statham-led The Transporter as well as the box office hit The Incredible Hulk which featured Edward Norton in the lead role before Mark Ruffalo emerged as the superhero in the MCU. Beyond that, he also directed the starry thriller Now You See Me in 2013, though he's since chosen to do television, directing episodes of series like Lupin and The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance. Most importantly for his Fast & Furious qualifications, however, is that he's a big fan of the franchise. During an interview with The Hollywood Reporter at Comic-Con for Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, Rodriguez had high praise for the energy he brought as someone who clearly loved the films, saying "He's so dope, man."
Rodriguez admitted that, at first, without the familiar presence of Lin, the team behind the film felt a bit lost. Once Leterrier stepped in, however, new life was breathed into the production with the actress saying of him:
He came with all this energy of love. We haven’t had that in Fast and Furious for a very long time where we get somebody excited who’s a real fan and who really wants to take it places that it hasn’t gone before. We’ve been at it for 20 years, bro. After all that time, you get jaded and kind of forget what you do it for [until] a director like Louis comes in and reminds you, ‘This is beautiful. Let’s go make magic.’ We’re so lucky to have him bro.
With Leterrier bringing aboard a creative team of his fellow French natives, Rodriguez joked that this film is "the French Fast & Furious." She added "Our special effects team, all of the guys who are doing the fights, they’re all French. Our second AD is French. Our director’s French. It’s like the French takeover, dude.” Despite the overhaul from the new director, Lin's fingerprints will still be on the upcoming Fast X. He's still on board as producer, alongside Diesel, Neal Moritz, Jeff Kirschenbaum, and Samantha Vincent, and he penned the script alongside Dan Mazeau.
Fast X features the return of Diesel and Rodriguez as well as Tyrese Gibson, Chris "Ludacris" Bridges, Jordana Brewster, Nathalie Emmanuel, Sung Kang, Scott Eastwood, and Charlize Theron with Cardi B and Michael Rooker set to reappear after their franchise debuts in Fast 9. Jumping in the car for the first time will be Jason Momoa, Brie Larson, Rita Moreno, Alan Ritchson, and Daniela Melchior. Details have been remarkably scarce about the film, though it's speeding toward an eventual finale for the franchise with one more film.
Fast X pulls into theaters on May 19, 2023.
Check out the trailer for F9, the most recent entry to the Fast franchise below: