A Fast & Furious Star Wants The Franchise To Go On Forever
The main Fast & Furious franchise is about to wrap things up with the final two films, but a star from the franchise wants the movies to continue forever.
Fast X, the 10th installment in the wildly popular Fast & Furious movie franchise, opens in May of next year, but even the biggest fans are wondering how much gas is left in the series’ cinematic tank. Ask Chris ‘Ludacris’ Bridges, who plays Tej Parker in the films, and the answer is simple: FOREVER. In a new interview with Fatherly, Bridges reflected on his career and the nearly two decades he has spent behind the wheel in nine Fast & Furious films. Despite plans to wrap up the Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) storyline with the 11th film (planned for 2024), Bridges thinks the wheels won’t be coming off the series anytime soon. That’s good news for fans of Tej, who love seeing his interactions with Tyrese Gibson’s Roman, which provide much of the levity in the film series.
“All great things come to an end,” Bridges said of the Fast & Furious films. “We’re shooting Fast 10 now, and that is the final chapter. But that doesn’t mean it’s gone forever, right? Look at Jurassic Park. That ended. But they reinvigorated it in another way. So I hope the Fast franchise will live on forever. Who knows, it might be our children who continue it, someday.”
The Fast & Furious series works because it manages to raise the stakes in every film, and inject new blood into the cast to keep it fresh. Long-time cast members Diesel, Ludacris, Gibson, Michelle Rodriguez, and Jordana Brewster have been joined by some A-list Hollywood talent in recent films, in roles both large and small. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Charlize Theron, Nathalie Emmanuel, John Cena, Helen Mirren, and Kurt Russell have all appeared in recent films, providing enough star power to match the horsepower the films rely on and keep the franchise going past Fast 11. The Hobbs and Shaw spinoff, featuring Johnson and Jason Statham, has already expanded the Fast & Furious cinematic universe, so there’s no reason to believe the films can’t keep going in some way.
Bridges has been with the Fast & Furious franchise since 2003’s 2 Fast 2 Furious, so he has a pretty good insight on the potential lifespan of the series. Even with 2021’s F9: The Fast Saga taking the franchise into space, the popularity of car culture will guarantee a fan base will return for more installments, even when Vin Diesel steps aside. At the recent CineEurope event, Universal touted the additions of Jason Momoa and Brie Larson to the Fast X cast, indicating they could be the heirs apparent to the franchise. The film series has also proven that revivals are always possible – even Sung Kang, who played Han, returned for Fast 9 after supposedly dying in a previous film. The staying power of the film series is remarkable, given that series star Paul Walker died in a car accident in 2013 (although his character remained alive on screen).
Despite the film’s popularity, getting Fast X to theaters has seen several challenges. Universal had previously moved the film’s release date, and this past May, production stopped when director Justin Lin, who has directed five Fast & Furious movies, stepped down as director of Fast X after repeated clashes with star Vin Diesel. Louis Leterrier (The Transporter, The Incredible Hulk) replaced him in the director’s chair, and production currently continues. Even if the film series dies end, Ludacris has other projects to keep him busy, including his own family-friendly animated series, Karma’s World, which he hopes will counter the negativity on television today.
