'Fast And Furious' Behind-The-Scenes Chaos And Drama Explained

How do you know that?

As any intelligent human should, we keep a close eye on the social media accounts belonging to “The Fast Saga.” On Tuesday evening, they posted a message from Lin outlining his departure, minus any specific reason for the decision – which came as a huge shock to fans, especially because the film was just “days into production.”

Is this such a big deal? Can’t anyone direct a Fast & Furious movie?

You have some nerve … Yes, it is a big deal. Lin transformed the franchise into the diversely populated cultural juggernaut it is today. After boarding the franchise in 2006 with The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, Lin helped turn a broken-down series of car race movies into an epic “Saga.” Don’t forget, this all started with a Point Break rip-off all about boosting VHS players.

So what happened?

No one knows exactly. Reportedly it’s due to, you guessed it, “creative differences” which could really mean anything. 

Is it because of Vin Diesel?

Where did you hear that?

I don’t know, the internet?

There’s no evidence that this has anything to do with Vin Diesel. In fact, Lin previously stepped back from 2015’s Furious 7 and ended up making Star Trek Beyond instead. At the time Lin claimed that this was simply due to his discomfort with Universal’s “aggressively accelerated timetable” and not any “clashes with the studio … or star Vin Diesel.” He also turned down The Fate of the Furious but returned for last year’s F9.

That being said, star Diesel (who is now also a producer) has had a number of on-set disagreements with other creative collaborators during the course of this series. Most famously, Diesel and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, who first appeared in Fast Five, don’t exactly get along …

And Johnson had to publicly decline Diesel’s pleas for him to rejoin the series in Fast X. 

That’s all the backstage Fast & Furious drama though, right?

Nope. Co-star Tyrese Gibson similarly feuded with both Johnson and also Diesel – but he has apparently resolved both issues. And in 2017, Michelle Rodriguez threatened to throw in the (likely extremely sweaty) towel over the franchise’s handling of its female characters. 

But what exactly happened this week, on the set of Fast X, no one knows yet. Although some fans have pointed to one of Vin Diesel’s behind-the-scenes videos with Lin, which, even before this news, gave off serious “proof of life” vibes.

So who is going to replace Lin?

Again, nothing’s been announced – but according to Hollywood Reporter writer Borys Kit, the list of possibilities includes Fate of the Furious director F. Gary Gray, and David Leitch, who made Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw.

Although a lot of fans on Twitter are clamoring for Universal to hire Titane director Julia Ducournau –

– which would at least allow for the long-running series to culminate with Dom Toretto being impregnated by his Dodge Charger. 

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Thumbnail Image: Universal Pictures