Photo Credit: Universal Pictures
With the Fast & Furious franchise gearing up for its end, star and producer Vin Diesel is trying to put an end to his feud with former co-star Dwayne Johnson for the two-part finale Fast & Furious 10 that is in the works. The two fell out during their time on Fast & Furious 8 aka The Fate of the Furious. In an Instagram post Diesel shared on Sunday, the 54-year-old extended actor an olive branch to his 49-year-old former co-star. Diesel is clearly hoping that Luke Hobbs and Dominic Toretto, the characters played by Johnson and him respectively in the Fast & Furious franchise, can reunite for the mega two-part culminating chapter.
“My little brother Dwayne… the time has come,” Diesel wrote in the Instagram caption. “The world awaits the finale of Fast 10. As you know, my children refer to you as Uncle Dwayne in my house. There is not a holiday that goes by that they and you don't send well wishes… but the time has come. Legacy awaits. I told you years ago that I was going to fulfill my promise to Pablo [Paul Walker]. I swore that we would reach and manifest the best Fast in the finale that is 10! I say this out of love… but you must show up, do not leave the franchise idle you have a very important role to play. Hobbs can't be played by no other. I hope that you rise to the occasion and fulfill your destiny.”
Diesel addressed their fallout publicly back in June, putting it down to “tough love” that he employed to get Johnson to deliver his performance as Hobbs. Johnson responded to it in an October interview with laughter and labelling it “bulls--t”. In that interview, Johnson also touched upon Diesel referring to himself as his “big brother”: “I have one big brother and it's my half-brother. And that's it.” Johnson reiterated what he had first noted in 2016, that they had a “fundamental difference in philosophies on how we approach moviemaking and collaborating.” Given all this, it seems unlikely that Johnson would want to return for Fast & Furious 10 — but never say never, right?
Franchise veteran director Justin Lin — who is helming both parts of Fast & Furious 10 — is holding out hope too. In April, Lin said: “I never really considered them gone, you know? To me, they're still in this universe; they're part of this family. Whatever we do, whenever we're talking about the next chapter, I never feel like I have any restrictions, so I'm excited for what we build, and as we're coming to this kind of final chapter of this saga, I think I'm excited to revisit…Any character, in any situation, is up for discussion.” Lin has also spoken about the return of Walker's character Brian O'Conner with the help of CGI and Walker's brothers. Could Fast & Furious 10 bring back everyone?
Fast & Furious 10 is due April 7, 2023 in cinemas worldwide. Production is expected to begin in January 2022, so Diesel and Johnson have a couple of months (or a little more) to make up.
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