Female-Led ‘Fast & Furious’ Spinoff In The Works, Vin Diesel Says

Topline

A female-led Fast & Furious movie is in the works, Vin Diesel, the star of the action movie series, told Variety during the opening weekend of the franchise’s tenth installment, as the films’ female stars continue to push for more representation within the series.

Jordana Brewster, left, and Michelle Rodriguez, cast members in the upcoming film “Fast X,” discuss … [+] the film onstage during the Universal Pictures and Focus Features presentation at CinemaCon 2023.

AP/Chris Pizzello

Key Facts

Diesel told Variety he began developing a female-led spinoff in 2017, but won’t launch any of the spinoffs until after the finale of the franchise.

The cameos and new stars of the latest installment—which featured Helen Mirren and Brie Larsen—are appealing characters for the audience, Diesel said, and “we need to see more of them.”

Michelle Rodriguez, a longtime star of the franchise who has publicly rebuked the lack of female representation in the movies multiple times, told Variety she wasn’t sure she’d take part in the spinoffs, saying she’d “pass the baton on” to let the next generation “define the future.”

Universal has not publicly confirmed the announcement, though Donna Langley, the head of the studio, told Business Insider last year she “would love to see a female Fast” (Universal did not immediately respond to Forbes’ request for comment).

Key Background

The female stars of the franchise have been pushing for a female-led film for years, the Los Angeles Times reported, noting that all ten films, the animated series Fast & Furious Spy Racers and the spinoff Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw have all been led by men. Jordana Brewster, one of the most recent film’s stars, described her frustration with being “in the babysitting seat,” saying she would like “to play more of a central role in [these movies].” Brewester told the Times a dedicated spin-off is something the audience would like and said it could “give us the opportunity to flesh out all the female characters.” Rodriguez has taken her criticism a step further, even threatening to leave the franchise at one point in 2017: “I hope they decide to show some love to the women of the franchise on the next one. Or I just might have to say goodbye to a loved franchise,” she wrote on Instagram.

Big Number

10%. That’s the percentage of action films that feature female protagonists, according to a March report from the Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film at San Diego State University.

News Peg

The latest installment of the franchise, Fast X, opened in theaters this weekend and earned the No. 1 spot at the weekend box office, bringing in $318 million in global sales in its opening weekend, falling short of most previous Fast & Furious movies. The cast features returning faces like Diesel, Rodriguez, Brewster, Ludacris, Sung Kang and Turest Gibson. Jason Momoa, Rita Moreno and John Cena are among the new faces featured in the film. The first of the franchise’s 12 movies, The Fast and the Furious, was released in 2001, and more than 20 years later the franchise has earned more than $6 billion globally.

Surprising Fact

The tenth installment of the popular franchise is not the last. It was previously reported the series would end in a two-movie finale, but earlier this month Diesel indicated the latest installment of Fast X, would be the start of a trilogy. The second part of Fast X will be released in 2025, Entertainment Weekly reported.