Long-time Fast and Furious series star Michelle Rodriguez described the new creative leadership of Fast X as a “French Takeover.” She went on to say that the new team will bring a fresh excitement to the series that is sorely needed.
The so-called French takeover comes after Justin Lin, who has directed half of the films in the series, decided to leave the project earlier this year. According to a story from The Hollywood Reporter back in May, there were several things that caused the director to quit, all stemming from the series’ chaotic production process.
First, Lin had written the script with the understanding that it was final, but this was not to be. Because of the war in Ukraine, a major sequence meant to take place in Eastern Europe was completely cut from the film. Furthermore, Vin Diesel, whose stardom has led to his increasing involvement in the production process, has become an on-set diva according to rumors. He is known to give very harsh notes on the script, outright rejecting scenes without explaining why, and leaving the director and screenwriter to simply guess what changes the star wants. Diesel was also reportedly often late to set and did not remember his lines. Finally, even after shooting had begun on the film the villain had not yet been cast. Unable to handle the chaos, Justin Lin quit as the film’s director—though he stays on as a producer.
Universal eventually chose French director Louis Leterrier (The Incredible Hulk from 2008, Clash of the Titans, Now You See Me) to replace Lin. According to Fast X star Michelle Rodriguez, Leterrier brought with him a crew of French filmmakers to fill out the rest of the production. “This Fast and Furious is the French Fast and Furious,” she went on to tell The Hollywood Reporter. “Our special effects team, all of the guys who are doing the fights, they’re all French. Our second AD is French. Our director’s French. It’s like the French takeover, dude.”
Rather than being concerned with such a drastic change in the production team of one of Universal’s most important tentpole series, though, Rodriguez is all for it. “Trust me, at the beginning, I was like two weeks in with no director. I’m like, ‘What are we gonna do?’” But once Leterrier joined the team, “He came with all this energy of love. We haven’t had that in Fast and Furious for a very long time where we get somebody excited who’s a real fan and who really wants to take it places that it hasn’t gone before. We’ve been at it for 20 years, bro. After all that time, you get jaded and kind of forget what you do it for [until] a director like Louis comes in and reminds you, ‘This is beautiful. Let’s go make magic.’ We’re so lucky to have him, bro.”
The passion of the film’s new director could be exactly what the series needs to get a fresh start. This will be the 11th film in the series, 22 years after it first began, and it’s becoming increasingly difficult to prevent the series from getting stale. In June, star Tyrese Gibson said that Fast X will see the franchise return to its roots—presumably meaning a return to the local street racing scene of the early films, rather than international bank heists and action scenes with Soviet-era nuclear submarines of the most recent movies.
Fast X is expected to release on May 19, 2023.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter 1, 2