Fast X’s production cycle was just as fast and furious as the film. Director Louis Leterrier said he only had four days to prepare for the job after first receiving a call about directing the project, and that timeframe involved some heavy lifting.
Fast Xis the tenth film inThe Fast and the Furiousfranchise and its penultimate movie. AfterJustin Lin stepped down as director ofFast X, Universal’s most successful franchise was without one of its key components. Universal reached out to Leterrier to rectify this situation, who immediately agreed to sign on to the franchise (it had been his professional dream for years).
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In a new interview withEsquire Middle East, Leterrier recalled the highly unconventional hiring process forFast X. “It was quite fast,” Leterrier said. “I mean, literally, they had shot a day, and were on hold. I got a call from the heads of Universal saying, ‘can you call us back?’ I thought it was a butt dial. I was like, I’ll call you tomorrow. He was like, ‘no, call us now, this is not a mistake. Can you read a script by 5:00 am?’”
Leterrier recalls reading the script and finding it incredible. However, the studio requested that Leterrier do some rewriting for the entire third act tomove theFast and the Furiousfranchise forward without Lin. The deadline given for the rewrite was just one night. Though Leterrier was determined to rewrite the third act to the studio’s specifications, he was running on no sleep.
However, Leterrier was determined to make it happen. Leterrier recalls, “But I was like, ‘okay, yeah, I’ve got some ideas,’ and started writing.” It seems thestudio was right to mark Leterrier as Lin’s replacementbecause he went further than that. With the third act now being reworked, Leterrier decided the first and second acts also needed some heavy retooling. “So basically I had to on the fly rebuild the airplane,” Leterrier said.
Fast Xis set to be a star-studded affair - evenWest Side Storylegend Rita Morenois getting in on the action. Leterrier’s comments also indicate that he’s a big fan of the franchise and that he understands that what fans want to see out ofFast and Furiousis over-the-top action (he mentions a Roman setpiece that could be the highlight of the film). Unfortunately, Rome wasn’t built in a day, but hopefully, rewriting the film on such short notice does not impact the quality of the film.
Fast Xis scheduled to be released in theaters on July 02, 2025.
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