Just a week after the start of production on ‘Fast X’, Justin Lin announced his sudden departure as director of the next installment of ‘Fast & Furious’, casting doubt on the fate of the successful franchise.
Lin broke the news in a public statement explaining that she had finally made the decision to leave ‘Fast X’ with the support of Universal and that she plans to remain in the film, which she co-wrote with Dan Mazeau, as producer.
“With the support of Universal, I made the difficult decision to step back as director of ‘Fast X’, while staying on the project as producer”
Justin Lin
“During 10 years and five movies, we have been able to film the best actors, the best stunts and the best car chases. On a personal note, as the son of Asian immigrants, I am proud to help build the most diverse franchise in movie history. I will always be grateful to the incredible cast, crew and studio for their support and for welcoming me into the Fast family.”
According to Deadline’s sources, Lin decided to step down as director due to “creative differences.” This has definitely put Universal in the position of finding a replacement in time to make its planned May release date. of 2023.
So production on ‘Fast X’ is likely to stop momentarily until it is hired to a new director who can catch up and replace Lin.
The most logical answer to replace him would be to put someone who is already familiar with the mechanics of the franchise. Apart from Lin, only five directors have been in charge of directing: Rob Cohen, the late John Singleton, James Wan, F. Gary Gray and David Leitch.
Justin joined the franchise for the first time to direct the third installment, ‘The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift’. He then stayed on with the films, directing all of them until he took a break after finishing the sixth installment in the series. Lin returned to direct ‘F9’ and was scheduled to direct ‘Fast X’ until this latest announcement.
‘Fast X’ will see the return of franchise mainstays like Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Sung Kang, Ludacris and Tyrese Gibson, while also adding Brie Larson in an unknown role and Jason Momoa as a villain clue. Charlize Theron is also set to return as Cipher, the cyber-terrorist who has been an antagonist in the series since the eighth installment.