Fast X Director Reveals How They Used Fast Five Deleted Scenes to Create the Flashback With Jason Momoa's Dante
The Fast Saga is filled with retcons, and the latest installment is no exception. Fast X features many changes, but the one that works the best is the insertion of Jason Momoa's Dante Reyes into the events of Fast Five. It's revealed in the movie's opening scene that Dante is the son of Hernan Reyes (Joaquim de Almeida), the villain from the fifth movie. The opening scene of Fast X revisits the heist that saw Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) and the rest of his "family" stealing Reyes' money vault from a police station. During a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, director Louis Leterrier explained how they used deleted scenes from Fast Five to recreate the heist and include Momoa.
"Since we had to 'Rashomon' that Fast Five scene, it was completely essential that we looked at all the dailies, and that's what we did. Universal Studios has an amazing archival department, and so we dug it all out and looked at everything," Leterrier shared. "Our movie was shot digitally, because most movies are shot digitally now, but Fast Five was shot on 35 mm. So we transferred all the footage and realized afterwards what unused footage that we could use and tweak."
He continued, "So we put our characters into pre-existing footage through motion control and CG, and then we also shot new bits with the same film stock and cameras as Fast Five. Stephen Windon was our DP, and he has shot most of the Fast movies since [Fast & Furious (2009)]. So he also shot Fast Five, and he remembered exactly what he did and what his light meter read back then. So it looks and feels seamless. You cannot really tell what's new and what's old, because every shot is a hybrid."
Who Stars in Fast X?
In addition to Momoa as the franchise's latest villain, Fast X includes the return of Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Chris "Ludacris" Bridges, Jordana Brewster, Sung Kang, Tyrese Gibson, Nathalie Emmanuel, Charlize Theron, Helen Mirren, Jason Statham, John Cena, and Scott Eastwood. Franchise newcomers include Captain Marvel's Brie Larson as well as The Suicide Squad's Daniela Melchior and 80 For Brady's Rita Moreno. The movie also features some surprise cameos along the way.
Have you seen Fast X? How did you feel about the opening scene that used footage from Fast Five? Tell us your thoughts in the comments!