What we know so far

Over the course of the past 21 years, the Fast and Furious franchise has transformed itself from a movie about street racing and boosting DVD players to one of today’s most profitable and off-the-wall cinematic experiences with a slew of sequels, spinoffs, television shows, video games, and more. During that time, the movies have also gone from moderate box office successes to absolute juggernauts, with Furious 7 and The Fate of the Furious both eclipsing the billion-dollar mark worldwide. Even F9: The Fast Saga, which was released in a pandemic, brought in a large chunk of change upon its June 2021 theatrical release.

All of this is to say that the franchise is here to stay, for a few more movies at least, with its 10th main installment, now officially known as Fast X, on the way. But before you grab your Corona, Von Dutch shirts, and start tinkering with your Dodge Charger, here are some things you should know about the ridiculously expensive blockbuster.

Fast X Will Be Released May 19, 2023

If we were living in an alternate reality, we would have already seen Fast X in theaters and on Blu-ray by now (it was originally slated to open on April 2, 2021), and would be talking about all the ways to watch it and other Fast and Furious movies streaming instead of discussing its upcoming debut. But this is some good news as Fast and Furious 10 is now set to be released on May 19, 2023, which seems like one hell of a way to kick off the summer Blockbuster season.

Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Sung Kang And Other Members Of The Toretto Crew Are Returning

It is hard to say exactly how the ever-expanding Fast and Furious family will fit into the series’ 10th installment just yet but we do know that most of the major players introduced over the years will be back for exhilarating and one logic-defying car chase after another. In October 2020, Deadline reported that not only would Vin Diesel be returning as Dominic Toretto, but Michelle Rodriguez’s Letty Ortiz, Tyrese Gibson’s Roman Pearce, Chris “Ludacris” Bridges’ Tej Parker, Jordana Brewster’s Mia Toretto, Nathalie Emmanuel’s Ramsey, and Sung Kang’s Han Lue would all be back for another round of heart-stopping action as well.

During a June 2021 interview with EW, Vin Diesel revealed that franchise newcomer Cardi B will be returning as Leysa in Fast and Furious 10, this time with a more expanded role. In April 2022, The Wrap confirmed that Charlize Theron would be back again as Cipher, the cyber terrorist who is once again on the loose following the F9 ending.

We will also be introduced to a new member of the Toretto family, as Rita Moreno is slated to appear as Dom's grandma. Speaking of new members of the cast...

Fast And Furious 10 Will Be The First Chapter Of The Franchise’s Two-Part Finale

Upon its release, Fast and Furious 10 will be a part of something much larger than one supersized action-adventure film; in fact, it will be the first chapter in a two-part finale for a franchise that kicked off 21 years ago. When news first surfaced that Universal Pictures was planning to complete the Fast and Furious franchise (at least the mainline series) in the very near future, Deadline reported that instead of taking a traditional sequel model for the final two installments, longtime franchise director Justin Lin would tell one big story over two movies, starting with Fast and Furious 10.

No one attached to the project has revealed what exactly will go down in Fast and Furious 10 or if the 11th movie installment in the franchise) will even be called Fast and Furious 11, but the idea of having something akin to Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame in the “Fast Saga” sounds amazing.

Vin Diesel Has Said Fast And Furious 10 Is Split In Two Because There’s So Much Ground To Cover

The Fast and Furious franchise isn’t for everyone, but no one can take anything away from the way the series has continued to up the ante over the years, going from the streets of Los Angeles to outer space and everywhere in between. This need to constantly up the bar is one of the reasons Vin Diesel said Fast and Furious 10 needs to be told over the course of two movies, as he explained at an April 2021 F9 trailer press conference (via GamesRadar+):

his “so much ground to cover” statement carries a great deal of weight when you think about all the characters and stories that will need to be tied up, in addition to the locations, before the “Fast Saga” comes to a close.

Production On Fast X Got Underway In April 2022

For the longest time there has been buzz surrounding the start of production on Fast X, with former director Justin Lin at one point telling Variety in April 2021 that filming would not begin that year, making it seem like 2022 would be the earliest the cameras would start rolling. That all changed in April 2022 when Vin Diesel, in the same Instagram post revealing Fast X as the title, announced production had started with a two-word caption: “Day One.” Exactly how long the shoot will last and where it will take the cast remain unclear at this time, but the stunts, including taking things to the skies once more, sound like it's quite the feat.

Louis Leterrier Has Replaced Justin Lin As The Fast X Director

On April 26, 2022, less than a week after production got started on Fast X, the film was dealt a major blow when its director Justin Lin stepped away from his duties behind the camera. In a statement that was shared by Deadline, the director revealed that “with the support of Universal,” he made the “difficult decision” to exit the movie, though he would stay on as a producer.

Variety later reported that Lin leaving Fast X just days after cameras started rolling could potentially cost Universal anywhere from “$600,000 to $1 million a day” while they waited to find a new director. This has been attributed to a number of factors, including the production being forced to press pause on main unit filming.

The pause didn’t last all that long as Universal hired Louis Leterrier to replace Lin on Fast X in early May 2022, a little less than a week after the saga first began. According to Variety, Leterrier, whose previous efforts include The Incredible Hulk and Clash of the Titans, beat out several other candidates for the job.

When promoting the upcoming Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves at San Diego Comic-Con 2022, Michelle Rodriguez sang Leterrier’s praises to The Hollywood Reporter, saying the French director brought an “energy of love” to the production and that the cast and crew were lucky to have him.

Fast X Will Not See The Return Of Dwayne Johnson’s Luke Hobbs

As great as it would be to see Dominic Toretto and Luke Hobbs cross paths once more in the Fast and Furious franchise, it doesn’t look like it’s in the cards as Dwayne Johnson has stated that he will not be returning for Fast X or it’s follow-up. In July 2021, Johnson told The Hollywood Reporter he wished the cast and crew the best of luck on the Fast and Furious movies that “will be without” him. And I guess this means the franchise will miss an opportunity to have Johnson and John Cena face-off unless he shows up in Hobbs and Shaw 2, if it happens.

And it still remains unclear if Jason Statham’s Deckard Shaw will return to the mainline series, though the F9 end credits sequence made it seem like we haven’t seen the last of the character just yet.

What's Expected Beyond The Fast And Furious Movies

Even though the mainline Fast and Furious story will be coming to a close following the release of the 10th and 11th films in the franchise, this doesn’t mean the universe that has been created and built up over the course of the past 20 years is going anywhere anytime soon. In fact, there are multiple spinoff movies in the works at this time.

First, there’s the follow-up to the successful Hobbs and Shaw, which brought in $759 million worldwide in 2019, per Box Office Mojo. And while it appears we’re still some time out before we see the odd couple of the action genre return for Hobbs and Shaw 2, a sequel has been in the works going back to March 2020. Then there is the long-in-the-works female-led Fast and Furious spinoff, which admittedly sounds like the right call considering all of the great female characters introduced over the years. And judging by comments made by Universal Pictures Chairwoman Donna Langley in October 2022, this project is very much something the studio would like to make a reality.

When addressing the future of the Fast and Furious franchise during an June 2021 interview with Vulture, Vin Diesel touched on a potential story that has reportedly been discussed as far back as 2009’s Fast and Furious, but stopped short of saying if that story would be a prequel of spinoff, only saying:

That same month, Diesel told Variety that he had writers working on a Fast and Furious spinoff centering on Charlize Theron’s character, Cipher, though there haven’t been any updates since.

Tyrese Gibson And Ludacris Want To Take Fast And Furious 10 To Africa

Nothing has been revealed about any of the locations that will be featured in Fast and Furious 10, but if two of the most-tenured members of the Fast and Furious family know where they want to take the franchise. During a June 2021 SiriusXM town hall interview with the F9 cast, Tyrese Gibson revealed that he and Ludacris, who appears as tech-whiz Tej Parker, want to take the franchise to a certain African nation, stating:

Later on in the interview, Tyrese Gibson explained how going to Brazil in Fast Five felt like a homecoming for co-star Jordana Brewster and that he thought it would be amazing to do something like that in South Africa.

We still don’t know exactly where Fast X will take the Toretto crew on their next and final set of adventures together, but we should have a better idea after the movie's first trailer drops on February 10, 2023, as reported by Collider. In the meantime, check out all the 2023 movies slated to come out before then.

Oh, and if you want to relive the Fast and Furious franchise with a first-timer, one of our writers is going through the entire franchise and sharing her thoughts, starting off with 2001's The Fast and the Furious.

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