Vin Diesel finally has a start date for the franchise’s final ride. The Fast & Furious star says Fast Forever, the 11th and final main installment in the The Fast and the Furious franchise, is expected to begin filming in December following four years of development and several rounds of writers.
Diesel revealed the production timeline on Monday night, August 17, while attending a 25th-anniversary screening of the film that started it all.
“We start shooting in December, if I can make good on the request from the studio,” Diesel told Variety. “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.”
The finale has a huge legacy to wrap up. Since The Fast and the Furious hit theaters in 2001, with Vin Diesel’s Dominic Toretto and the late Paul Walker’s Brian O’Conner at the heart of its Los Angeles street-racing story, the series has grown into Universal’s longest-running and most successful franchise.
The films have pulled in a combined $7.3 billion worldwide, evolving from street racing and truck hijackings into global heists, espionage, and increasingly wild automotive stunts.
However, Diesel has hinted that Fast Forever could bring the franchise back to its emotional roots. Speaking to the crowd before the anniversary screening, the actor once again shared his reaction to the latest screenplay.
“Halfway through, one tear,” he said. “By the end of the script that we crafted and worked so hard to make right for you after four years, I was crying. I couldn’t hold it back.”
Diesel joked that his sister eventually told him, “No more crying, bro,” before adding, “Sometimes, even the toughest guys in the world need to cry.”
His comments follow Diesel’s recent praise for screenwriter Michael Lesslie’s draft. Earlier this month, he called it “the best script I have read in decades” and wrote, “I am still crying…”
Lesslie joined the project after earlier versions of the script were written by Aaron Rabin and Zach Dean.
Diesel also teased a connection between Fast Forever and the original The Fast and the Furious, telling fans they would be happy to revisit the first movie during its anniversary theatrical re-release. The original film earned $207 million worldwide and launched a franchise that later expanded into short films, animation, and the Hobbs & Shaw spin-off.
Fast Forever will also have plenty of unfinished business to address when filming begins. Fast X brought in more than $700 million worldwide in 2023 before ending on a major cliffhanger and setting up the return of Dwayne Johnson’s Luke Hobbs and Gal Gadot’s Gisele.
Louis Leterrier, who directed Fast X, is expected to return for the final installment, although he recently revealed that he had not yet read the latest script.
“There will be an ending, and it’s great,” Leterrier said. “We’ll see, hopefully.”
Fast Forever is set to arrive in theaters on March 17, 2028.
