Fast X Cast Reflects on Fast & Furious Saga, Paul Walker at CinemaCon

On the road to Fast X, the upcoming 10th and penultimate installment in the Fast Saga, franchise regulars reflected on family and 20 years of Fast & Furious at CinemaCon on Wednesday. Series ride-or-dies Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Jordana Brewster, Tyrese Gibson, and Sung Kang appeared in person at the annual Las Vegas gathering of movie theater owners to gas up Fast X as part of Universal Pictures' slate presentation, where Diesel confirmed the Fast & Furious finale — the currently untitled Fast 11 — will speed into theaters in 2025.

"Thank you for riding with me for a quarter of a century," Diesel, who has played Dominic Toretto since the first film in 2001, told press and exhibitors from the stage at Caesar Palace's Colosseum. The actor and producer noted the Fast Saga is the longest-running film franchise to feature the same actors, calling the star-studded cast "our family." 

"The audience is our family. And as we were building toward this achievement, we were attracting directors who each brought their own magic to the saga," Diesel added, remarking that "for two decades, the Fast films have been the most successful film of every one of our directors' careers."

Filmmakers to get behind the wheel include Rob Cohen (2001's The Fast and the Furious), John Singleton (2003's 2 Fast 2 Furious), five-time Fast director Justin Lin (2006's The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, 2009's Fast & Furious, 2011's Fast Five, 2013's Fast & Furious 6, 2021's F9), James Wan (2015's Furious 7), F. Gary Gray (2017's The Fate of the Furious), and franchise newcomer Louis Leterrier, who will steer the saga to the finish line with the two-parter Fast X and Fast 11.

The original movie that raced through the streets of L.A., Brewster remembered, "was all about cars, but at its core, at its heart, was about family." Gibson, who entered the franchise in 2 Fast 2 Furious, said the Miami-set sequel had "the best title" of the saga. In Tokyo Drift, the Fast franchise "went international for the first time," said Kang of the speedy installment taking place in Japan. 

In 2009, Fast & Furious — which boasted the tagline "new model, original parts" — was "a new beginning in a way," said Rodriguez of the sequel that reunited her with original cast members Diesel, Brewster, and Paul Walker for the first time since the 2001 original film. That led to thrilling heist blockbuster Fast Five, which got a dose of NOS with Dwayne Johnson's Luke Hobbs. (Fast X is closely connected to Fast Five in the form of Jason Momoa's villain Dante, who seeks vengeance against Dom's family for their actions in Rio a decade earlier.)

But it was Furious 7 — the final film to feature the late Walker — that "will always stand above in our hearts," said Brewster. The actor died before filming could be completed, and the film ended with a tearful sendoff for Walker's Brian O'Conner and the dedication "for Paul." 

Fast X stars returning franchise cast members Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Jordana Brewster, Chris "Ludacris" Bridges, Tyrese Gibson, Sung Kang, Jason Statham, Nathalie Emmanuel, Scott Eastwood, Helen Mirren, Michael Rooker, John Cena, and Charlize Theron. Newcomers include Jason Momoa, Brie Larson, Alan Ritchson, and Rita Moreno. Fast X opens in theaters May 19th.