In a lengthy social media post paying tribute to the legacy of the Fast and Furious franchise, star Vin Diesel noted the “responsibility” he feels to deliver on a satisfying finale.
The action-crime saga, which began in 2001 with the first installment, will wrap up March 17, 2028.
“25 years. Eight directors. Countless writers, crew members, performers, each one giving something real to a saga that has outlasted trends, cynics, and time itself,” Diesel wrote on Instagram. “That doesn’t happen by accident…It happens because people show up and pour themselves into something bigger than any one individual.”
In the caption, the Groot actor also announced the addition of scribe Michael Lesslie (Now You See Me: Now You Don’t, The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes) to the team. “Sitting across from Mike Leslie [sic], hearing what he plans to contribute to the polish of the next chapter, that same feeling returned. A story with something real beating inside it.”
The executive producer continued, “There is a particular weight that comes with delivering a finale. A responsibility you feel in your chest, to everyone who gave something to get here, to the audience that stayed. You don’t take that lightly. You take it as fuel. And when you find out you’re going back to Los Angeles… back to the streets where it all began, something clicks into place. The city that made the first film feel alive, still here, still holding. Coming home to close it out right. That’s not logistics. That’s a gift.”
Comparing Fast Forever to his other upcoming project — Mattel Studios’ Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots — Diesel said he feels both are about stories worth telling.
“That’s what keeps me here,” he concluded. “The collision of artists around something that matters. One conversation leads to another. One collaboration opens a door you didn’t know was there. Nobody does this alone. Nobody ever did. That willingness to build something together that none of us could build alone, that’s my favorite thing about this work. Always has been.”
The Universal movie is said to return to its humble origins of street racing and car culture, serving as a follow-up to 2023’s Fast X, which concluded with many of its main characters’ fates up in the air.