How Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez protect the Fast & Furious franchise from ‘too many cooks’

LOS ANGELES – Few ongoing film franchises are as prolific or profitable as the one that began with 2001’s The Fast And The Furious, the story of a tight-knit gang of Los Angeles street racers – charismatic criminals who can do anything with a car.

Fast-forward 22 years, and it is a globe-trotting cinematic behemoth with nine movies and a 2019 spin-off, Hobbs & Shaw, and with the action frequently moving beyond the United States to cities such as Tokyo, Rio de Janeiro and London.

In the process, it has earned more than US$6 billion (S$8 billion) at box offices worldwide, making it one of the highest-grossing film series of all time.

And opening in Singapore cinemas on Thursday is the 10th film, Fast X, whose estimated US$340 million budget makes it the fourth most expensive movie ever made.

It is the first of a trilogy that will conclude the primary Fast & Furious saga, with part two out in 2025 and rumours of more spin-offs in the works.

At an event held in Los Angeles to launch the Fast X trailer, stars Vin Diesel and Michelle Rodriguez say the enduring success of these movies is because they have listened to fans, many of whom relate to the misfit characters.

And the American actors reveal that behind the scenes, they have fiercely defended the integrity of the stories from the sort of “too many cooks” problems that come with such tent-pole blockbusters.

Fast X’s star-packed ensemble includes core cast members Diesel and Rodriguez, along with Tyrese Gibson, Ludacris, Sung Kang and Nathalie Emmanuel.

It also brings back Oscar winners Helen Mirren and Charlize Theron, along with Jason Statham and John Cena, all villains in earlier chapters.

And there are two new hires from the superhero world, Aquaman (2018) actor Jason Momoa and Captain Marvel (2019) actress Brie Larson. Momoa plays the main antagonist – the son of a drug lord killed in 2011’s Fast Five who is fuelled by revenge and determined to destroy the Los Angeles crew responsible for his father’s death.

But Diesel, who plays Dom, the crew’s leader, says the latest sequel will stay true to the franchise’s roots, something fans have repeatedly demanded over the years.

“It’s no accident that we’re here in Los Angeles, where it all started,” says the 55-year-old, who also provides the voice of tree-like humanoid Groot in the Guardians Of The Galaxy superhero trilogy (2014 to 2023). 

“The fans have always been with us and we have always heard them.

“They wanted to go back to the streets of Los Angeles; they wanted to return to racing and what that feels like; they wanted to return to the cars that made this franchise what it is,” he says.

Rodriguez, who plays Dom’s wife Letty, credits Diesel, who also executive produces, with obsessively protecting the story and characters.

His “passion and drive” are such that he will spend long hours fixing scripts and other things he thinks are amiss, says the 44-year-old, who was last seen in the fantasy adventure Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (2023).

She says: “There’ve been times when I wouldn’t leave his house for three days until we fixed the problem. He won’t stop until it feels right.”

One reason this is necessary is because “there’s lots of cooks in the kitchen”, she explains.

“When you have a franchise that makes that much money, everybody’s got an opinion about it. Everybody’s trying to cut corners – (someone) doesn’t want to pay this one this much and that one that much.

“But at the end of the day, it all comes down to story. And if we mess that dance up, it’s all over, you guys are going to kick us out to the kerb. I know it and he knows it.

“And there’s nobody who protects it with more passion than Vin,” Rodriguez says.

And no one appreciates the power of the Fast & Furious audience more than Sung Kang.

The 51-year-old Korean-American actor first appeared in the third film, The Fast And The Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006), as the gangster and expert drifter Han Lue.

It was meant to be a throwaway part, but director Justin Lin ended up expanding the character, which Kang had already portrayed in Lin’s 2002 crime drama Better Luck Tomorrow.

Han Lue became an instant fan favourite and was brought back for subsequent films.

“If it wasn’t for the fans, I would have never come back,” Kang says.

“And wherever I go in the world, I feel like I have friends and family because of this franchise,” he adds.

“To be embraced by this car community and the Fast & Furious family around the world, it’s a blessed life. And now the franchise has gone global and it’s amazing to be embraced by people all over the world.”