Lin is the director behind some of the franchise’s best hits, starting with 2006’s The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift as well as each subsequent installment since save for 2015’s Furious 7 and 2017’s The Fate of the Furious. After directing last year’s F9, Lin was set to helm the last two films of the blockbuster action film series, but this is no longer the case. According to THR, Lin’s quitting was a spur-of-the-moment decision from a difference in opinion over Fast X’s script as Diesel and Universal Pictures reportedly felt that the script needed more work done. So, when Diesel showed up on April 23 with additional notes, the two got into a heated argument that culminated in Lin quitting as the film’s director. But, Lin will still remain on board as the producer with Louis Leterrier replacing Lin as the director. Leterrier is a neophyte to Fast and Furious, but he’s directed big-budget movies like The Incredible Hulk, The Transporter 2, Clash of the Titans, and Now You See Me, in the past. It will be interesting to see how Universal will handle shooting the back-to-back finales. The initial plan was for Lin to work on both Fast X and the series’ final installment after cameras started rolling in late April. However, with Lin out of the picture and Leterrier also having other commitments outside of Fast X, Universal might have to find a new director for the eleventh Fast and Furious and/or push its premiere back from its original February 2024 release window. At the moment, Fast X’s main unit has pressed paused on production while the second unit soldiers on in the United Kingdom. As Universal fast tracks Leterrier’s arrival to get the ball rolling again, we’re hoping that this is the last “bad” news we’ll hear from Fast X. Fans are, no doubt, excited to see what Diesel has put his sleeve for Fast X as it welcomes a handful of new faces to the series such as Brie Larson and Daniela Melchior as well as Jason Momoa. In the meantime, Fast X’s production budget has reportedly ballooned to $300 million, an astronomical amount comparable to Mission: Impossible 7.
