Fast and Furious 11 may no longer be the end of the franchise as star Vin Diesel seemingly reveals a three-part finale plan for the films.
Despite originally aiming for a two-part finale, Vin Diesel has seemingly revealed Fast and Furious 11 may no longer be the end for the franchise. After over 20 successful years on the big screen, the action movie franchise was expected to come to a close with the eleventh installment, while spinoffs would keep the iconic brand alive for Universal Pictures. It was announced this past April that Louis Letterier, who’s at the helm for Fast X, would be returning for the next film with The Flash‘s Christina Hodson and The Cloverfield Paradox‘s Oren Uziel writing.
While speaking with Fandango at the red carpet event for the next film, Vin Diesel and Michelle Rodriguez opened up about the impending end to the Fast and Furious franchise. To the surprise of the interviewer and those viewing the interviewer, the stars seemingly revealed that Fast and Furious 11 may no longer be the end of the franchise as Universal is keen on a three-part finale, but run away after saying a trilogy will “probably” happen. Check out Diesel and Rodriguez’s comments below:
Diesel: Without giving away too much, I can say this, going into making this movie, the studio had asked if this could be a two-parter and after the studio saw this Part One, they said, “Could you make Fast X: The Finale a trilogy?”
Rodriguez: It’s three acts in any story.
Diesel: You probably are [getting a trilogy]
Making Fast & Furious 12 The End Is A Big Franchise Risk
Though considered one of Universal’s biggest franchises behind Despicable Me and Jurassic Park, the decision for Fast and Furious 11 to be the end was met with general appreciation for feeling the action movies had run their course. Additionally, with the increasing reports of on-set creative conflicts and decreasing critical reviews after Furious 7‘s franchise-high Rotten Tomatoes score of 81 percent, it seemed better for the plan to focus on various spinoffs instead of the mainline films.
With Diesel now indicating Universal is eager to make Fast and Furious 12 the end for the franchise instead, it could be a risky move for the brand moving forward. A sequel to the first spinoff, Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham’s Hobbs & Shaw, has seen numerous delays in its development due to script issues and the former’s frequently busy schedule, considered to be indefinitely stalled, while a female-led and Charlize Theron-led spinoff remain in unknown states.
By putting more of their focus and faith on a potential Fast and Furious 12, Universal could ultimately derail these spinoff plans should the next few films underwhelm even the most die-hard fans of the franchise. The most recent installment, F9: The Fast Saga, saw a $500 million drop at the box office from its predecessor and scored the lowest reviews since 2009’s Fast & Furious, while Fast X is projected for a slightly higher opening than its 2021 predecessor, but is contending with the biggest production budget yet of $340 million.