F9 Star Vin Diesel Explains Why Fast & Furious Franchise Is Ending After Two More Movies

F9 is finally hitting theatres in the United States later this month. The latest installment is being released only a month after the 20th anniversary of the franchise's first film, The Fast and the Furious. The franchise has brought a lot of people joy over the years, but Vin Diesel and company announced last year that the movies will officially end after the 10th and 11th movies are released. During a recent interview with The Associated Press, Diesel explained the decision to bring the franchise to a close.

"Every story deserves its own ending," Diesel said when asked about the franchise's future. "I know people are going to feel like it doesn't have to end, but I think all good things should ... There are reasons for a finale. I think this franchise has deserved it."

"We got together and Vin says 'I think we should think about closing up the saga now,'" director Justin Lin added. Lin previously helmed The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, Fast & Furious, Fast Five, and Fast & Furious 6. The director just returned for F9 and is set to direct the final two films. "Nine is kind of the first film of the final chapter," Lin explained. "We're kind of reconfiguring everything so that the next two movies should wrap up this amazing journey for these characters."

"This franchise was born from the pavement, from the concrete," Diesel added. "The world just championed this underdog to a place where it has already surpassed all of these other franchises. But the franchise has a soul, and that soul has to rest."

The Fast Saga might be ending on 11, but the franchise still has two spin-off films in development, which includes a sequel to 2019's Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw as well as an untitled women-fronted spin-off, which was being written by Nicole Perlman, Lindsey Beer, and Geneva Robertson-Dworet. There haven't been many updates on either project in a while, but we're holding out hope that the franchise will get to continue in new ways once the story of Toretto's crew comes to an end.

You can check out the official description for F9 here: "Vin Diesel's Dom Toretto is leading a quiet life off the grid with Letty and his son, little Brian, but they know that danger always lurks just over their peaceful horizon. This time, that threat will force Dom to confront the sins of his past if he's going to save those he loves most. His crew joins together to stop a world-shattering plot led by the most skilled assassin and high-performance driver they've ever encountered: a man who also happens to be Dom's forsaken brother, Jakob (John Cena, next year's The Suicide Squad)."

F9 hits theaters in the United States on June 25th.