Production could start on the long-awaited sequel as early as December 2026.

When does Fast Forever come out? All about the final chapter in the Fast saga — and why it made Vin Diesel cry

Production could start on the long-awaited sequel as early as December 2026.

August 20, 2026 1:13 p.m. ET

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Vin Diesel in ‘F9’. Credit:

Giles Keyte/Universal

- The 11th *Fast and the Furious* movie, *Fast Forever*, is reportedly starting production later this year.

- Vin Diesel called it “the best script I have read in decades” and said that it made him cry.

- The sequel is scheduled to speed into theaters on March 17, 2028.

Start your engines and get the NOS ready, because we’re finally going back to Cali for *Fast Forever*.

The 11th — and supposedly final — mainline chapter in the *Fast and the Furious *saga has been a *long* time coming. Back in 2023, Universal released *Fast X*, the first of a planned two-part finale for the increasingly bonkers action franchise. Despite rebounding with the wildly entertaining *F9* in 2021, the *Fast* franchise fumbled the 10th chapter, which underperformed at the box office and didn’t exactly get fans hyped for the follow-up. It took a few years for Universal to set a release date for *Fast Forever*, which is expected to hit theaters in 2028.

But that’s only if everything else goes according to plan for the long-gestating sequel, which is being developed under the guidance of executive producer and star Vin Diesel. According to the franchise’s self-appointed gatekeeper, *Fast Forever* is reportedly revving up to start production in December 2026. Here’s everything we know so far about the 11th movie in the *Fast and the Furious* saga, including script details, its release date, and who’s likely to return.

Is Fast Forever filming?

Vin Diesel and Daniela Melchior in ‘Fast X’.

At a recent 25th anniversary screening of 2001’s *The Fast and the Furious*, Diesel told *Variety* that he hopes *Fast Forever* will begin filming in December.

Previously, Diesel praised the script from *The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes* scribe Michael Lesslie, calling it “the best script I have read in decades.” The actor added, “I am still crying.” Diesel expanded on his reaction at the anniversary screening, emphasizing the long road to development for the sequel.

“It was after four different writers, four years of development, and after I read the script, halfway through, one tear,” he said. “By the end of the script that we crafted and worked so hard to make right for you after four years, I was crying. I couldn’t hold it back, and I had to tell everyone. And my sister [*Fast* producer Samantha Vincent] said, ‘No more crying, bro.’ So I just want to say that sometimes, even the toughest guys in the world need to cry.”’

Back in March, Diesel reaffirmed that *Fast Forever* will film in Los Angeles, where the franchise began, and described the “responsibility” he feels to deliver a worthy conclusion. “There is a particular weight that comes with delivering a finale,” he wrote on Instagram. “A responsibility you feel in your chest, to everyone who gave something to get here, to the audience that stayed. You don’t take that lightly. You take it as fuel. And when you find out you’re going back to Los Angeles… back to the streets where it all began, something clicks into place. The city that made the first film feel alive, still here, still holding. Coming home to close it out right. That’s not logistics. That’s a gift.”

When does Fast Forever come out?

As of now, *Fast Forever* is scheduled to hit theaters on March 17, 2028, nearly five years after *Fast X*.

It took Universal Pictures almost three years to announce a date for the final installment, which may have been due in part to the lackluster box office performance of the previous sequel. Based on Diesel’s comments, it also sounds as if it took a while to land on a script that he felt was worthy of the finale.

Who is directing Fast Forever?

Chris “Ludacris” Bridges and Tyrese Gibson in ‘F9’.

Giles Keyte/Universal

Louis Leterrier, who replaced director Justin Lin on *Fast X*, is contracted to return for *Fast Forever*, though it remains unclear if he will. The French filmmaker, best known for 2008’s *The Incredible Hulk* and 2013’s *Now You See Me*, recently directed *The Last House* for Netflix.

At the premiere for his Netflix film, Leterrier told *Polygon* that he had not yet read the script that made Diesel cry. Perhaps tellingly, the director referred to his involvement in the past tense. “I’d love to tell you the full truth, but I can’t,” he said, laughing. “There will be an ending, and it’s great. I was very, very lucky to be part of the franchise, and I love Vin and I love Universal. They’re great to work with. So yeah, we’ll see, hopefully.”

“They have to finish it. Someone has to end it,” Leterrier added, casting some doubt on his return for *Fast Forever*.

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What is Fast Forever about?

Family, of course.

Beyond that, we don’t know, though here’s a handy explainer on where *Fast X* left our heroes.

Who is in Fast Forever?

Michelle Rodriguez in ‘F9’.

Giles Keyte/Universal

Diesel, obviously. Michelle Rodriguez and Jordana Brewster, who also attended the 25th anniversary screening and discussed the upcoming sequel, appear likely to return as well. Franchise mainstays Tyrese Gibson and Chris “Ludacris” Bridges are also expected to appear in the final chapter.

Over the years, the franchise’s cast has expanded to include Dwayne Johnson, Sung Kang, Jason Statham, Charlize Theron, Nathalie Emmanuel, Helen Mirren, John Cena, Kurt Russell, Scott Eastwood, Jason Momoa, Brie Larson, and Alan Ritchson.

In *Fast X*, Cena played Jakob Toretto, who sacrifices himself to save his brother Dom, but given the soapy nature of the franchise, can we ever assume that anyone is *really* dead? Also unclear is the status of characters played by Gibson, Bridges, Kang, and Emmanuel, all of whom were in a plane that was shot down in the sequel, leaving their fates unknown.

Will Fast Forever feature the late Paul Walker?

Paul Walker in ‘Furious 7’.

That seems to be the plan. Last summer, Diesel recalled conversations with Universal Pictures about *Fast Forever*, and revealed his “three conditions” for getting the sequel made. “The first is to bring the franchise back to LA. The second thing was to return to the car culture, to the street racing,” Diesel said. “The third thing was reuniting Dom and Brian O’Conner. That is what you’re going to get in the finale.”

Paul Walker died tragically in a 2013 car crash that occurred during a break from filming *Furious 7*. The 2015 sequel ends with an emotional sequence featuring Dom and Brian (Walker) driving side by side as the former narrates a montage about their relationship. At the end, the two friends drive off in different directions, with Brian deciding to ditch their high-octane lifestyles to focus on his family. The sequel was completed with the help of CGI and Walker’s brothers, Caleb and Cody, and actor John Brotherton, who all doubled for the late actor.

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Canonically, Brian is still alive in the *Fast* franchise, and is occasionally referenced by other characters. In 2018, while promoting the documentary *I Am Paul Walker*, Caleb said that he hoped to revive Brian for the final film. “I just hope we get to — I don’t know — have a little cameo and bring Paul back to save the day and I get to help create that again,” he told the AP. “That’s my dream and I hope we get to do that in one of the future movies.”

“I think there could potentially be a way to do it. But it would take a lot of thought and it’d have to be tasteful,” Cody added. “He was the real deal, the real car guy. And in his absence, I — you know — I think it’s lost its way in a big way.”

There are a few notable examples of filmmakers using various combinations of archival footage, stand-ins, and visual effects to create posthumous screen appearances, including Carrie Fisher in *Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker* (2019) and Ian Holm in *Alien: Romulus *(2024)*. *These depictions tend to be divisive, to say the least; the quality of the effects varies across studios, such that the result can be uncanny at best (*Star Wars*) and visually off-putting at worst (*Alien: Romulus*).

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