His return was rumored back at the start of this month, but now it appears to pretty much be fact: director Justin Lin will return to The Fast and the Furious franchise for its ninth installment. Save for the last two films, Lin has helmed every entry in the series since the third one. Actor/producer Vin Diesel confirmed Lin’s return yesterday via a Facebook Live event, where Fast actress Jordana Brewster was also present. Universal has yet to officially announce Lin as director, of course, but that’s likely just a formality at this stage.
“Guess who the director is? You’re not going to believe this… the one responsible for resurrecting this beautiful saga. Justin Lin! The crowd goes wild! It’s a three-point shot that made 9 and 10 incredible! You wanted 9 and 10 to be incredible. We’ve heard your concerns about the saga and where it needs to arrive in its final chapters. Justin Lin is so old school, he’s so part of the DNA of the Fast mythology, that while we’re on set today, the one person he wanted to be here immediately, just as he started to feel that sense of Dom, that sense of Toretto, that sense of the Fast and Furious universe and the responsibility of that… he wanted someone who is a part of the brotherhood, when you go past gender. He wanted someone very important to be here, and it’s someone you all have been asking for…” – Vin Diesel
“It feels like no time has passed at all!” – Jordana Brewster
“This is so exciting…. There’s nobody more Torretto than my sister, Jordana Brewster, who is Mia Torretto. And those of you who know the franchise know how much of a badass she is. And you’re about to see that in the upcoming chapters of the Fast and Furious.” – Vin Diesel
It sounds like Brewster’s character, Mia, is going to be back in the thick of it for the final two entries. That’s an interesting turn of events, since in the wake of Walker’s death and the series writing off his involvement in future adventures, most of us expected her to never pop up again outside of a cameo. I hope this isn’t a hint that they’re going to kill Brian offscreen, but it honestly wouldn’t surprise me at this stage.
Regardless of whatever narrative direction the Fast films are taking next, getting Lin back should assuage fans concerns of the whole enterprise falling apart. There’s been a lot of doomsaying ever since Fast 9 was postponed from 2019 to 2020, with the untitled Hobbs and Shaw spin-off now arriving first in 2019. Getting the man who rescued the franchise years ago back to direct again is a smart play.
My own feelings about Lin’s return are mixed. On the one hand, we know that he will turn in a fun film. On the other, as someone who loved Star Trek Beyond and would like to see him go on to more different things, such a career backslide is troubling. That’s no slight against the Fast movies, but this will be the fifth one he has directed out of nine*. More, if Diesel’s hint of Lin directing Fast 10 as well ends up becoming fact.
That aside, I do wonder what Lin, Brewster, and Diesel are working on right now. What “set” was this reported from? Production on Fast 9 isn’t expected to begin until 2019, so what are the trio working on at this very moment? Is it a pre-existing Diesel project like Kojak or xXx 4? Or is it something altogether different?
* – Sixth, if you count retroactive prequel Better Luck Tomorrow.
