Posted in: Movies, Universal | Tagged: FAST X, the fast saga, universal, Universal Pictures

Fast X Director Louis Leterrier Knows How The Fast Saga Ends

Fast X director Louis Leterrier revealed that he knew how The Fast Saga ended before he was signed on to return to direct Fast 11.

The marketing for Fast X has been teasing from the start that this is the "beginning of the end of the road" for this franchise. While there is now some debate whether or not that "ending" will be three films or two, this franchise that has been going pretty strong since 2001 is wrapping up. Louis Leterrier came into The Fast Saga pretty late in the game after Justin Lin left Fast X mere days into production. However, he wasn't just there to direct a movie and then go away. It was recently confirmed that Leterrier would be returning to direct Fast 11, but in an interview with Collider, he wanted to know how the Saga ended before he even knew he was returning so he could make sure all of the right foreshadowing was there.

"The moment I read the script, how it unfolded, and how it was like a reverse Fast & Furious, I asked that question. Then we started talking about it, and then, you know, I didn't know I was going to do the next one, but it was very important for me, in order to plant the right seeds, to know where it was going. So that's what we had to come up with, where it all ends."

Leterrier elaborated that he knows exactly what the ending of The Fast Saga will be. However, he also understands the "tricky" balance that they will have post-Fast X and beyond to try and create the right ending while also pleasing the fans that have kept this franchise alive for over two decades.

"What I can tell you is that we know exactly where the franchise ends today," Leterrier explains. "We know where we're ending. The roads we're going to take are going to be different, but we know where it all ends, and I know as a fan it's both sort of satisfying and truly surprising. As you know, fan service is tricky because you want to deliver the right thing, but you wanna surprise the people; you don't want to give them exactly what you know everybody's expecting the Fast & Furious franchise, where it's going to end up."

The early reactions to Fast X dropped last night and aren't glowing. However, this franchise does have the ability to move beyond critical praise if possible. The fans have never cared if these movies were critically beloved, but it certainly seemed to help when they were seen as "good" and were able to gain a reach beyond the core fanbase. Fast X and the final entry or entries into The Fast Saga leaning harder into what the fans want regardless of whether or not critics or the general public will like it sounds like a move that could work if these movies didn't have massive budgets to recoup and not a lot of time to do so. Whether or not this ending is a trilogy or a two-parter will likely be decided once the final box office numbers come in on Monday.

Fast X: Summary, Cast List, Release Date

The end of the road begins. Fast X, the tenth film in the Fast & Furious Saga, launches the final chapters of one of cinema's most storied and popular global franchises, now in its third decade and still going strong with the same core cast and characters as when it began. Over many missions and against impossible odds, Dom Toretto (Vin Diesel) and his family have outsmarted, out-nerved, and outdriven every foe in their path. Now, they confront the most lethal opponent they've ever faced: A terrifying threat emerging from the shadows of the past who's fueled by blood revenge and who is determined to shatter this family and destroy everything—and everyone—that Dom loves forever.

In 2011's Fast Five, Dom and his crew took out nefarious Brazilian drug kingpin Hernan Reyes and decapitated his empire on a bridge in Rio De Janeiro. What they didn't know was that Reyes' son, Dante (Aquaman's Jason Momoa), witnessed it all and has spent the last 12 years masterminding a plan to make Dom pay the ultimate price. Dante's plot will scatter Dom's family from Los Angeles to the catacombs of Rome, from Brazil to London, and from Portugal to Antarctica. New allies will be forged, and old enemies will resurface. But everything changes when Dom discovers that his own 8-year-old son (Leo Abelo Perry, Black-ish) is the ultimate target of Dante's vengeance.

Directed by Louis Leterrier (Clash of the Titans, The Incredible Hulk), Fast X stars returning cast members Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, Chris "Ludacris" Bridges, Nathalie Emmanuel, Jordana Brewster, Sung Kang, Jason Statham, John Cena, and Scott Eastwood, with Oscar® winner Helen Mirren and Oscar® winner Charlize Theron. The film also features an extraordinary new cast, including Oscar® winner Brie Larson as Tess, a rogue representative from the Agency; Alan Richtson (Reacher) as Aimes, the new head of the Agency who doesn't hold the same fondness for Dom's crew as his predecessor, Mr. Nobody; Daniela Melchior (The Suicide Squad) as a Brazilian street racer with a powerful tie to Dom's past; and legendary Oscar® winner Rita Moreno as Dom and Mia's Abuelita Toretto. Fast X will be released on May 19th.

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