Alan Ritchson Explains Why Fast Forever Hasn’t Been Made Yet: “There’s A Lot of Obstacles”

The Fast & Furious franchise has a 25-year legacy, beginning with The Fast and the Furious in 2001, which makes it bittersweet that star of the films Vin Diesel has already indicated that Fast Forever, the eleventh installment in the fan-favorite franchise, will be the final movie. Adding to the complexity of that news is the fact that Fast Forever has faced a number of hiccups and seeming delays, leaving many fans wondering if the movie is really going to come out at all. Earlier this year, the title and release date were announced, with Diesel himself confirming “…March 17th 2028! FAST FOREVER.”

In the time since, however, updates on Fast Forever have been much less encouraging. As recently as July 7, in fact, reports were indicating that Fast Forever is not currently in production. Understandably, this has left many fans disappointed and confused, wondering when, if ever, the final addition to this epic franchise will actually arrive. Now, Alan Ritchson, a star from the most recent Fast & Furious movie, Fast X, has weighed in, providing more insight into why there seems to be a hold up with the movie—and, sadly, this update isn’t what many fans are hoping for.

There Are “Very Real Problems” With Fast Forever

Ritchson recently appeared on Josh Horowitz’s Happy Sad Confused podcast, and towards the end of the interview, he addressed the car-shaped elephant in the room: Whether Fast Forever is really going to happen. Regarding whether he knew anything about the project, Ritchson said, “I know a lot. We have conversations all the time…But there’s just a lot of obstacles. It’s expensive to make that; it’s too expensive to make those. It just doesn’t make a ton of sense. There’s a more efficient way to shoot those shows.”

He continued, “There has to be a way to show restraint while also honoring the fact that this world has expanded to something humongous. That gets very difficult. Now, we’re at the crossroads of something very hard to figure out, and you know, everybody’s figuring it out.” Although Ritchson did not say so directly, his comments suggest that a significant part of the issue has been the massive expense of the movies, which has certainly grown in scale over the years, and the justification needed for that expense. Considering that Fast X wasn’t exactly the box office success that many would have hoped for, that’s understandable.

However, not all hope is lost. Ritchson added, “I think there’s going to be another one. I think it’s going to be great. And it’s just a matter of solving some big problems, very real problems.” For now, it will, therefore, seemingly be a waiting game when it comes to Fast Forever and its future, as the approach to addressing these problems, at least in terms of what Ritchson shared, is not clear. Even so, Ritchson’s optimism about the project still happening should be encouraging for fans who had begun to doubt that they would ever see this final chapter.

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