If you've seen this week's Fast 9 trailer, you'll know it teases a move into space for the massive movie franchise, with actors Tyrese Gibson and Ludacris preparing to break the atmosphere in a rocket car. A journey into space is something that's long been touted for the Fast movies – but even for a series built on increasingly ludicrous vehicular set pieces, it always seemed a stretch too far.
Now, director Justin Lin has confirmed that the ninth movie in the series will indeed be heading for the stars, discussing the plan to do so in a series of interviews about the trailer.
"I think through the years, part of the fun is to come up with crazy ideas to challenge ourselves," Lin tells Collider. "But I have to say, we never do it just for sake of shock value. It always takes something from the theme or the character journey. I can say that when I was working on Fast 9, there was a thread that felt very appropriate to take us to places that we’ve never gone to."
So, taking a car into space is all about the themes of the movie! The director discussed how he and series star Vin Diesel agreed that this would be the entry that would try and pull this off.
"I drove to Vin’s house and I sat down with him and we looked at each other and we were like, 'Ok, this is the one. This is the one that we’re going to try.' And it felt very appropriate. So, I kind of can’t wait to share with the world, because the more we push and do crazier stunts and set-pieces, the more we have to check ourselves to make sure we earn that."
Lin apparently even spoke to scientists to learn more about fuel and physics in making this part of the movie work.
Elsewhere, the Fast 9 trailer appears to be having fun with magnets, flipping convoys over and Vin Diesel fighting John Cena in London. You won't have to wait long to watch it – Fast 9 is scheduled to release in theaters on June 25, 2021.
Where next?
Fast 9 isn't the end of the series – the tenth and eleventh entries are planned to wrap up the saga. So, if this movie ends up going to space, how exactly will the future movies top it? Travelling into alternate realities? Parking a Ford Mustang on the face of a cosmic entity?
Every time the Fast and Furious series steps it up, the creators find a way to top the last movie – we're sure Lin has something in mind this time, too.
