Fast & Furious 11 reveals release month as Vin Diesel teases return of late Paul Walker's character
Mark your calendars for April 2027, Fast fans!
It's been two years since Dom Toretto and his family were last on our screens in Fast X – but this weekend, Vin Diesel had some exciting updates for fans looking forward to the final instalment in the mega action franchise.
Speaking at Fuel Fest – an event for car enthusiasts held in Pomona, California – the star teased some details about the upcoming Fast X: Part 2 while also announcing that the current plans was for the film to hit cinemas in April 2027.
"The studio said to me, 'Vin, can we please have the finale of ‘Fast and Furious’ [in] April 2027?'" he said, as reported by Variety. He then went on to explain three conditions he'd outlined to the studio if they were to keep to that schedule – all of which involved taking the franchise somewhat back to its roots.
"First, is to bring the franchise back to LA," he said. "The second thing was to return to the car culture, to the street racing! The third thing was reuniting Dom and Brian O’Conner."
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Of course, the latter of those requests throws up a lot of questions. As fans of the franchise will now, Brian O'Conner was the character played by the late Paul Walker, who was a prominent part of the franchise for the first seven entries before his tragic death at the age of 40 in 2013.
It's not currently clear how Diesel plans on bringing the character back into the fold – but it seems unlikely that he would be looking to recast the role and so it is possible he wants to insert the late actor into the film digitally using archive footage.
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The apparent plan to adopt a back to basics approach is also interesting, given that the franchise has famously become increasingly high-octane and extreme with each new entry – with one instalment even sending the characters to space.
It's also not clear how many of the franchise's stars will be back for the new film. The most recent movie, Fast X, boasted a huge ensemble cast – with Diesel joined by Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, Chris "Ludacris" Bridges, John Cena, Nathalie Emmanuel, Jordana Brewster, Sung Kang, Scott Eastwood, Daniela Melchior, Alan Ritchson, Helen Mirren, Brie Larson, Rita Moreno, Jason Statham, Jason Momoa and Charlize Theron.
And there's also the matter of Dwayne Johnson, who was previously a major part of the franchise as Luke Hobbes. Hobbes made a surprise reappearance in the mid-credits scene of Fast X – so could he back for good in the next film? We'll have to wait and see.
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Authors
Patrick Cremona is the Senior Film Writer at Radio Times, and looks after all the latest film releases both in cinemas and on streaming. He has been with the website since October 2019, and in that time has interviewed a host of big name stars and reviewed a diverse range of movies.
