Is the Fast and The Furious family falling apart?
The Fast and the Furious family is fighting and we’re none too happy about it. We love watching dumb stuff sometimes, and although most of it is not enjoyable at all, the Fast and The Furious films are the exceptions to the rule. There’s a charming stupidity to the films – starting from the fifth one – which coupled with some dope ass car stunts, homo-erotic macho behaviour, and schmaltzy drama about the importance of family, makes this a franchise that we can’t get enough of. We almost screamed out during the set-piece in the latest one, where the gang was driving on ice to outpace a submarine. Yet for all the talk about family in the movie, it seems like the cast is at best a dysfunctional one at this point.
It all started in 2016 when Dwayne Johnson used his Facebook page to indirectly call out Vin Diesel for being a “candy ass” on the set of The Fate of the Furious (that’s #8 in the franchise). Things escalated, and although the stars said there was no bad blood between them, they ended up not doing any promotion for the film together.
Then in June of 2017 Michelle Rodriguez had her say about the franchise, threatening to leave it unless women started to have more vital roles to play:
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 later clarified her discontent did not stem from Vin Diesel’s behaviour, and that he was a great champion of female performers. So at least this feud got squashed.
Things were quiet for a while, until Tyrese Gibson decided to get involved in October, after it was announced a spin-off movie starring Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham would be released before The Fast & The Furious 9. In an Instagram post that looks like it was written by a 12-year old teenage girl who is like literally done with it all, Tyrese blamed Johnson for pushing back the release date of the 9th film in the franchise:
…we don’t fly solo….. #MyLastPosttoday….. I got 3 years of venting on this clown – They offered but YOU didn’t have to agree with a solo #HobbsMovie
Of course big brother Vin Diesel couldn’t resist getting involved as well, in an attempt to bury the feud, saying the following:
I know there has been a lot of speculation as to why the Fast 9 release date was pushed… but it would be unfair to say it is anyone’s fault.
This seemed like a logical end point for the argument, yet Tyrese gave it one last (?) shot by posting a video in which Johnson trashes Tyrese’s album. Since the video was two years old and made in jest, the feud ended there. For now.
That’s where we’re at now. Everyone’s fighting. Was Paul Walker the calming presence on set keeping everyone happy? Or are we wrong, and was it actually Fast 3,4,5, and 6 director Justin Lin, or Walker’s movie wife Jordana Brewster? If it was either of the latter we should be drifting into conflict-less territory, with both rumoured to return for the two final installments.
We can only hope this will be Vin Diesel’s face during the next shoots:
