It's Officially the End of an Era for The Fast & The Furious

Fast & Furious has been one of the most popular franchises in cinematic history, but the epic saga of Dominic Toretto and his family may already be at an end. Beginning in 2001 with The Fast and the Furious, a Point Break-inspired action film about street racing, the series grew bigger with each successive installment, going so far as to see a car being driven in space in F9. With an increasingly strong cast built around Vin Diesel, featuring countless great performers who have walked in and out of the franchise through the years, Fast & Furious has become one of Universal's most popular brands, earning billions of dollars for the legendary studio.

Still, all good things must come to an end. After Paul Walker passed away before filming was finished on Furious 7, things began to change for the series. Walker's character Brian O'Conner had up to that point been just as necessary to the Fast franchise as Diesel's Dom, and Walker's loss was sorely felt both in and out of the universe. Following Furious 7, a critical and commercial hit, has since proven to be a difficult task for the franchise. Rather than killing off Brian in the series, the character has simply been written out of the stories, with the explanation that he is off looking after his family. Unfortunately, the Fast franchise has struggled since Brian's departure, and may be in even greater trouble now than ever before.

Is Fast 11 Ever Going To Get Made?

The most recent franchise installment, Fast X, gave the Fast saga a cliffhanger ending, but resolving that film's close does not seem to be a priority for Universal. The conclusion of the Fast saga has been in the works for some time; in 2015, following the release of Furious 7, it was revealed that the series would conclude with one final trilogy of films. The Fate of the Furious and F9 followed before Fast X, which was originally conceived as one film, but plans expanded through the years. By the time Fast X went into production, it was planned to be the first film in a two-part finale. Then, Variety reported in 2023 that discussions were occurring surrounding expanding Fast X into a full trilogy of films, with Diesel providing details.

Going into making this movie, the studio asked if this could be a two-parter. And after the studio saw this one, they said, ‘Could you make “Fast X,” the finale, a trilogy?'

Things looked bright for the Fast saga going into the release of Fast X. While F9 was not as big as some of its predecessors, there was reason to believe that some of this was due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and that the next chapter could be just as big as The Fate of the Furious. The bulk of the franchise's expansive cast returned for the new project, including John Cena and Ludacris, while movie and TV star Jason Momoa came on board as the colorful and charismatic villain. More than this, the film confirmed several unexpected returns to the franchise, with Gal Gadot's Giselle somehow returning from the dead, and Dwayne Johnson's Hobbs appearing in a mid-credits scene.

Movie	Year	Worldwide Box Office
Fast X	2023	$714 million
F9: The Fast Saga	2021	$719 million
Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw	2019	$760 million
The Fate of the Furious	2017	$1.1 billion
Furious 7	2015	$1.5 billion
Fast and Furious 6	2013	$789 million
Fast Five	2011	$629 million
Fast & Furious	2009	$359 million
The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift	2006	$157 million
2 Fast 2 Furious	2003	$236 million
The Fast and the Furious	2001	$206 million

Dwayne Johnson already had a Fast spinoff, but plans in 2023 suggested that he would get another. A new Hobbs movie was announced following the release of Fast X, which was intended to bridge the gap between that film and its followup sequel. It is unclear if this is the second movie in the trilogy that Diesel had teased, but either way, none of these projects seem to be coming together. Fast X did very well, but failed to live up to franchise expectations considering the film's enormous $378.8 million budget. This has cooled enthusiasm from Universal on a sequel, and it now appears that the film needs a $250 million budget, but the studio is only willing to spend $200 million.

Granted, much of Fast X's budget was inflated due to director Justin Lin departing the project after production had already begun, as well as additional COVID-19 safety protocols that had to be followed. Still, while it is essential that Fast and Furious 11 brings down its budget, this butting of heads has required a complete reimagining of what the next film will be compared to what was envisioned in 2023. Now, to years later, there is reportedly no approved script for the project, despite some details being teased by Vin Diesel, including the return of Brian O'Conner, a focus on street racing, and an April 2027 release date. Unfortunately, production difficulties and delays seem to be ongoing, and there is not plans yet for a start on filming the project.

How The Insane Cliffhanger Ending Of Fast X Could Be The Perfect End To The Series

Budget disputes between Universal and the producers on the film, including Diesel himself, are beginning to make it look like Fast and Furious 11 may not materialize any time soon, but this might not be as bad as it seems. Considering the absurd state of the Fast franchise, ending with Fast X could actually be a strong narrative choice. The ever-expanding series has been the butt of jokes for its unrealistic choices, bringing back characters from the dead with ridiculous retcons, and seeing street racers perform at superhuman levels, surviving all kinds of crazy tricks and stunts with their cars and their bodies. Eventually, this lifestyle needs to catch up with them, as seemed to happen during Fast X's ending.

The end of the last film is tragic. Roman, Tej, Ramsay and Han are seen aboard a plane, which is shot down by Aimes. This scene was so quickly done and contained such drastic and significant casualties that most audiences have assumed that this would be proven to be some kind of fakeout in a subsequent sequel. However, if taken at face value, this means that the bulk of the Fast franchise's cast has already been killed. This would be a tragic ending for these beloved and familiar characters, but it would also heighten the emotional weight of the film, emphasizing the realistic dangers that come with the lives that these characters have chosen to lead.

Note: While the Fast franchise seemingly killed off several characters in its finale, they also brought back Gal Gadot's Gisele, who seemed to have died in Fast & Furious 6. How she was able to return has not yet been explained.

In addition, audiences have been waiting for a resolution to Dom's story. Amidst so many Fast and Furiousdeaths, Dom is seen with his son trapped at the bottom of a dam, which is blown up by Dante. The film closes as flames rush toward the characters, leaving their fates to be resolved in a follow-up sequel. However, this foreboding image of death coming for the characters could be a bold and tragic way to end the franchise. Dom has given up everything for his family, but his actions have also hurt others, like Dante. Closing the film with an ambiguous but likely sad ending, similar to Thelma and Louise, might be the perfect way for the Fastfranchise to come to an end.

The Franchise Will Surely Receive Some Closure Eventually

Granted, audiences are likely to get some kind of closure to the Fast saga eventually. Even if Fast and Furious 11, as it is currently envisioned, does not get off the ground, the franchise is too lucrative, and in too much of an uncertain place narratively, to do away with entirely. After all, there are all kinds of ancillary mediums, including in comics and novels, that could be used to close off the story and tie up the plot threads as a worst-case scenario. Still, it is more likely that somehow, someday, Vin Diesel will return as Dominic Toretto in some kind of big-budget film and will be able to bring some conclusion to his story.

Perhaps audiences need a break from the Fast series for a while. The declining box office, which saw Fast Xbecome the lowest-grossing film in the franchise since 2011, suggests that this may be the case. While 2023 saw several cliffhanger endings, including in Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, discussions concerning a followup to Fast X have been surprisingly mild. While many audiences would certainly like to see a resolution to that film's ending, it does not appear to be driving too much anticipation. Perhaps it would be best if the Fast franchise were put to rest for a few years before coming back some time in the future.

Returning in 10 or so years with a new Dominic Toretto story, which could incorporate flashbacks or details about what occurred after the explosion in Fast X, might be a strong option for the franchise, and would allow audiences enough time to eagerly anticipate another chapter in the Fast story. The franchise has already been going for twenty-four years, and it could use a break. Still, there remains hope, even if that hope is diminishing, that Universal and the team behind Fast 11 will figure out their differences quickly, and come to a compromise on the next film. Whether it comes soon, or some time in the distant future, another Fast movie is almost certain to happen.