Vin Diesel and I have a lot in common – we’re both bigger and buffer than Dwayne Johnson, we both like laughing mirthlessly at things people say to us, and we’ve both been thinking a lot about the future of the Fast & Furious franchise.
And seeing as how the fine people at Universal Pictures seem to have lost or blocked my number, I think it’s time to continue our disappointingly one-sided conversation in an open letter.
Being fair, they’re probably busy with what looks like an enviable 2025 franchise slate, including Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy, How To Train Your Dragon, Jurassic World: Rebirth, Wicked: For Good, and most of all, Dog Man. But it’s been almost two years since the ground-breaking cliffhanger ending of Fast X and the sequel is no closer to meeting its planned 2026 release date.
Read more: Fast X, and its weird sequel limbo situation
According to Vin’s most recent update, you and your parent company Comcast have been badgering him in different directions, while he wants to get back to street racing in LA like in the classic original. This will be no help to him at all, but I say now is the time for enormous crossovers with other Universal properties.
To be clear, I don’t agree with the Jurassic World crossover idea that was going around a few years ago. Granted, there’s nothing to preclude both series having existed in the same continuity the whole time and the Torettos simply haven’t crossed paths with a tyrannosaurus yet.
That’s the kind of retcon the Fast movies throw on the barbecue and wash down with a Corona every couple of years. Plus, Jurassic World doesn’t need the NOS injection of a Fast Saga crossover.
And yes, the next two Fast movies are billed as a finale and you have to respect the audience with that, like Marvel did with the umpteen movies and TV series that have come out since 2019’s Avengers: Endgame. That’s why I’ve come up with the next SIX (count ’em, SIX) Fast & Furious movies by trawling your studio’s franchise slate.
To Film Stories readers – please note that making films is difficult and you should absolutely not attempt any of these crossovers at home.
Back To The Future
Working title: The Fast & The Future
The pitch: Universal’s library has a variety of car-centric franchises, including Smokey And The Bandit or Death Race, but the Fast & Furious movies are already bigger than those. In the most recent films alone, they’ve already driven between skyscrapers, on ice, and in space – where they’ve been, they already didn’t need roads.
And nobody – literally nobody anywhere – will expect Back To The Future Part IV and Fast X Part 2 to be the same movie. Just imagine the time travelling shenanigans you could get away with by having Tyrese Gibson ask about it incredulously as it happens. (Think Michael J Fox’s delivery of “you’re telling me you built a time machine into a DeLorean” but about much less believable things.)
In Act 1 of The Fast & The Future, Dom wins a race. By Act 3, Dom will have to win that same race, driving the DeLorean, against himself. For contractual reasons, this will still somehow come out as a draw, and the two Vin Diesels will celebrate and drink beer before getting back behind the wheel like the responsible drivers they are. Cinema gold!
You hate to admit it, but this is the best worst idea you’ve ever heard.
Bourne
Working title: Born Fast, Bourne Furious
The pitch: Every Moonraker needs its For Your Eyes Only, so after the sci-fi time-travel extravaganza, we need a grounded return to the franchise’s roots – one that also cashes in on another recognisable brand.
The Bourne movies have never been as soapy as Fast & Furious with their stories of amnesia, changing allegiances, and incomprehensible action, but having Dom and family take on Matt Damon’s rogue asset could change all that.
Plus, both franchises have already pulled the continuity twist, but The Fast Saga did it bigger and madder – The Bourne Supremacy ends with a scene from halfway through The Bourne Ultimatum, but Fast movies 4 through 6 take place between 2 Fast 2 Furious and Tokyo Drift!
With all that agreed, the ending will have it both ways, as “Extreme Ways” by Moby plays over a family barbecue scene.
Insidious
Working title: Fast & Further
The pitch: One of my favourite instalments to date was Fast & Furious 7, directed by James Wan. It’s time to bring him back into the fold for a new instalment of both of his big franchises. Handily, this is another franchise that already jumps around in its timeline, with Chapter 3 and Chapter 4 taking place before the first two films.
There have been five films already and there’s a spin-off called Thread: An Insidious Tale on the way. And we’ve already seen psychics battling the demons that inhabit the Further on foot, but you know what? In all those movies, nobody’s tried running them over in cars yet.
And yes, I’m way ahead of you – with Jason Momoa’s winning turn in Fast X, I absolutely see potential for a crossover with Wan’s Aquaman movies too, just as soon as we sort the rights and the whole driving-underwater thing.
Dark Universe
Working title: 2 Dark 2 Universe
The pitch: Speaking of horror, there was some trouble with relaunching the Universal monsters a few years ago, right? People didn’t like that 2017 Mummy movie, but in case it’s not abundantly clear yet, I am not people!
The much better Wolf Man also had a disappointing run at the box office recently, so what’s to be done? As a film lover and an aspiring executive producer, I truly believe that there is nothing wrong with a franchise that a Fast & Furious Presents tag couldn’t fix.
Then again, it can’t be a coincidence that the last time the Mummy franchise was any good was the same summer as The Fast & The Furious first changed cinema. Give audiences what they want and bring back Academy Award winners Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz to fight returning baddies Arnold Vosloo and Patricia Velasquez plus a Dracula, a Frankenstein, maybe a Shrek. Throw in another double-decker bus chase scene for good measure.
The best part is we don’t even need Dwayne Johnson to agree to be in this one, we already have the flawless CG model from The Mummy Returns – we can do him with computers now!
Mamma Mia!
Working title: Fast And Furious Presents Mamma Mia: Kalokairi Drift
The pitch: While promoting Fast 9 on The Kelly Clarkson Show in 2021, Vin Diesel claimed: “I’ve been dying to do a musical my whole life. I was this close to doing Guys and Dolls with Steven Spielberg, but we ended up not doing that.”
Pff, what does Spielberg know? I’ll see your Nathan Detroit and raise you Mamma Mia! 3, right on time for that franchise’s decade-long turnaround in 2028. We could have it so the Toretto family are related to Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth, AND Stellan Skarsgård, giving Amanda Seyfried innumerable uncles, cousins, and backing dancers.
Aside from the compatible family themes, Benny Andersson said he used to have ideas for ABBA songs while driving, apparently – is that anything?
Look, imagineering viable four-quadrant franchise crossovers is hard, so I’ll let you handle the logistics while I plot the action sequences. The things they do on this small island will make the world’s longest runway from Fast & Furious 6 look like a Lego set. How can you resist it?
The Flintstones
Working title: The Fast And The Furious And The Flintstones
The pitch: So, you’re telling me it’s time to cross over with a franchise Steven Spielberg produced? One with dinosaurs? And also gets back to the suburban street-level roots of the franchise to keep Vin Diesel happy?
Well, I only have one question – how fast can he run in that car?
I look forward to hearing from you.
