Louis Leterrier Will Replace Justin Lin And Direct Vin Diesel’s ‘Fast X’

About one week after Justin Lin shocked us all by stepping down from the Fast X director’s chair, Universal is reportedly bringing in Louis Leterrier to take his place. It’s a frankly solid pick, as Leterrier, who, my god, looks like a (handsomer) live-action Gru in that picture, isn’t exactly an auteur but is an experienced and accomplished action filmmaker. He helmed the first two of Jason Statham’s star-making Transporter films (Olivier Megaton directed The Transporter 3), the terrific Jet Li actioner Unleashed and the first Now You See Me in the summer of 2013.

That “FBI versus stage illusionists who are secretly thieves” romp earned $350 million on a $75 million budget for Lionsgate and is still among the bigger-grossing “not based on anything” live-action grossers over the last decade. He helmed The Incredible Hulk for Marvel Studios in the summer of 2008 before directing Clash of the Titans, a film whose last-minute 3-D conversion was a source of controversy but still earned $465 million on a $120 million budget in early 2010.

Ironically, The Incredible Hulk was Marvel’s first flop ($268 million on a $155 million budget) before Eternals and is usually considered one of the MCU’s worst movies. It’s also a film where Letterier and star Edward Norton allegedly clashed with Marvel over their desire for a longer, more character-driven drama versus studio preferences that it be a more conventional rock-em/sock-em actioner compared to Ang Lee’s divisive Hulk.

As someone who didn’t care much for Iron Man (four-star performance in a 2.5-star movie) and much preferred the Incredible Hulk’s deleted scenes, it wasn’t until I saw Captain America: The First Avenger that I became a “believer” in Marvel’s long-term plans.

The hiring of Leterrier (along with Lin staying on as producer) seems to somewhat combat the prevailing conventional wisdom that Lin was micromanaged out of the director’s chair by Vin Diesel, since the filmmaker has a history of dealing with a famously micromanaging lead actor and a somewhat combative studio.

Maybe Lin was just exhausted and drained by losing what was supposed to be the gap year between F9 and Fast X (and then Fast 11) to Covid? I mean, it’s not like Lin and Vin Diesel haven’t worked together on four of these films previously (Lin helmed the most Diesel-free Toyko Drift before Fast & Furious reunited the core cast).

Or, just as possible, maybe the rumors are true and the old-school action filmmaker is saying yes to a high-paying tentpole gig (which these days are as likely to go to indie darlings or horror filmmakers as actual action directors) even with all the implied risks.

This will mark the second time that a white guy has helmed a Fast and Furious movie since Rob Cohen’s original The Fast and the Furious in 2001, as he was followed by John Singleton (2 Fast 2 Furious), Justin Lin (Toyko Drift, Fast & Furious, Fast Five, Fast & Furious 6 and eventually F9), James Wan (Furious 7) and F. Gary Gray (The Fate of the Furious).

Of course, David Leitch helmed Hobbs & Shaw, but that’s a spin-off. If Disney is currently fishing in the same pool to replace Jon Watts on Fantastic Four, might I suggest Jennifer Yuh Nelson (Kung Fu Panda 2, The Darkest Minds)?

Fast X is going to earn whatever Fast X is going to earn when it opens next May 19, 2023 regardless of who is in the director’s chair. This is a franchise rooted in fandom for the previous films and the core cast (Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Ludacris, Tyrese Gibson, etc.) doing crazy action stunts alongside whoever shows up to play in a given film. Bringing on Jason Momoa (star of the $1.148 billion-grossing Aquaman) and Brie Larson (star of the $1.128 billion-grossing Captain Marvel) won’t hurt.

I’m curious as to whether the lousy reception in China for F9 ($215 million from a $134 million debut, for the same mythology-driven storytelling and narrative retcon reasons they turned on Detective Chinatown 3 after its $399 million opening weekend) will impact Fast X in that key overseas territory. But that’s a conversation for another day. The ten Fast Saga films (counting Hobbs & Shaw) have grossed $6.615 billion worldwide on a combined $1.4 billion budget, so keeping the train on the tracks was obviously Universal’s biggest priority.