Next ‘Fast and Furious’ movie ‘Fast Forever’ sets spring 2028 release date

Vin Diesel is revving his engines to race one more quarter mile.

Universal has officially dated the next “Fast & Furious” installment — now titled “Fast Forever” — for March 17, 2028.

Franchise star and producer Diesel also shared the news on Instagram, posting a photo of himself with the late Paul Walker from the original film, 2001’s “The Fast and the Furious.” Diesel captioned the post: “No one said the road would be easy… but it’s ours. One that has defined us and become our legacy… And a legacy… lasts forever.”

Over the past 25 years, the “Fast & Furious” movies have grossed a total of $7.3 billion, making it Universal’s most profitable and longest-running franchise (2015’s “Furious 7″ is the top-grossing installment with $1.5 billion worldwide; 2023’s “Fast X” grossed $704 million). The high-octane blockbusters have also expanded into a multitude of other offerings, including an animated series and the spinoff film “Hobbs & Shaw.”

The update on “Fast Forever” comes after months of speculation about when Diesel’s Dominic Toretto and his crew — Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, Ludacris, Jordana Brewster, Nathalie Emmanuel, Sung Kang and Jason Statham — would climb back into their muscle cars following the explosive ending to “Fast X.”

The action-packed final minutes of 2023’s “Fast X” show Dom driving down the side of a dam and into the water below, as he and his son, Little Brian (Leo Abelo Perry), race to escape a trap set by the villainous Dante (Jason Momoa), who arms a series of bombs. Then the movie cuts to black. Two credit scenes follow, teasing the mind-boggling returns of Dwayne Johnson’s Hobbs and Gal Gadot‘s Gisele.

Fortunately, even before “Fast X” hit theaters, Universal locked in director Louis Leterrier (“The Transporter”) to helm the next half of the two-part saga, with Christina Hodson (“The Flash,” “Bumblebee”) and Oren Uziel (“The Lost City,” “22 Jump Street”) to co-write the screenplay.

But “Fast” fans have been waiting to find out what happens next since May 2023, and updates have been slow and frustrating. In fact, the 5-year wait will be the longest stretch between installments since the franchise began.

And there have been several false starts along the way: Diesel originally announced the next movie was scheduled for April 2025, then Leterrier said it would come out in 2026, but plans stalled while the studio and creatives (including producers Diesel and Neal Moritz) aligned on the story and budget.

Last January, Diesel declared that the globe-trotting franchise — which has shot in such far-flung locales as Rio de Janeiro, Tokyo, London, Havana and Abu Dhabi — would “return home” to film in Los Angeles as a way to boost the local economy following the devastating wildfires. Then, in March, Diesel revealed that he would direct a sequel to the short film “Los Bandoleros” to bridge the gap between “Fast X” and the final movie. In June, Diesel took the stage at Fuel Fest, a car enthusiast event in Pomona, Calif., with his “Fast and Furious” co-stars Tyrese Gibson and Cody Walker to tease an April 2027 release window.

It’s been a long road, but things look to be official now, with Dom and his family cruising into the sunset in 2028.

Source - Variety