FAST FOREVER Reportedly Has No Script or Director, Despite Vin Diesel Claiming It Made Him Cry

The next Fast and Furious movie is having a tough time getting out of the garage. Vin Diesel has spent years getting fans excited about the franchise's final chapter, Fast Forever, but there's apparently one small problem. The movie doesn't have a finished script or a director, and filming might still be years away.

That makes Diesel's previous claim that reading the screenplay brought him to tears a little more interesting.

According to a new report from Jeff Sneider at The InSneider, Universal Pictures is still trying to figure out how to move forward with Fast Forever. The film reportedly has never had a completed screenplay, despite Diesel previously telling fans he'd read it and had an emotional reaction.

The situation gets even stranger when you consider how much Diesel has been promoting the movie. He's shared social media updates suggesting production was underway, teased the possibility of bringing back Paul Walker through AI technology, and continued making announcements that apparently haven't received Universal's approval.

According to Walker's brother, Cody Walker, when Diesel announced Fast Forever onstage, Universal hadn't even officially greenlit the movie.

Then there's the issue of who's actually going to direct it. Universal is reportedly searching for a new filmmaker, suggesting Fast X director Louis Leterrier won't be returning.

Leterrier previously admitted he hadn't seen a script and has been keeping busy with other projects while waiting for things to move forward.

Diesel, meanwhile, recently hinted on Instagram that he might direct Fast Forever himself. At this point, why not? He's already the franchise's star, producer, and biggest cheerleader.

Money is also causing problems. Universal reportedly wants Diesel to slash nearly $150 million from the movie's budget, which is a pretty significant cut for a franchise that has made a habit of delivering increasingly ridiculous action sequences.

The biggest obstacle, however, might be the schedule. Fast Forever currently has a March 2028 release date, but production reportedly isn't expected to begin until early 2028.

Unless Universal has figured out how to film, edit, and release a massive Hollywood action movie in a matter of weeks, that date isn't happening. Another delay appears likely, potentially pushing the movie into 2029.

Despite all this uncertainty, Universal is apparently already thinking about what comes next for the franchise. The current idea is to have Diesel's Dominic Toretto, now 59 years old, eventually pass the torch to a younger generation of characters.

One actor reportedly being considered is Charles Melton, whose name has come up several times during internal discussions at Universal.

Melton hasn't received an offer, and without a completed screenplay, there's nothing concrete to offer him yet. Still, he's an interesting choice.

The actor first gained attention on Riverdale before earning considerable praise for his performance in Todd Haynes' May December. Since then, his career has taken off.

His growing list of projects includes Alex Garland's Warfare, the second season of Beef, Nicolas Winding Refn's Her Private Hell, Greg Kwedar's Saturn Return, and Lulu Wang's Audition.

He's also landed a significant role in an upcoming Universal sci-fi movie from filmmaking duo Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, better known as the Daniels.

Melton certainly has the talent to help carry the franchise into a new era, assuming Universal can actually get the next movie made.

It's pretty wild that after ten movies, billions of dollars at the box office, and more increasingly absurd car stunts than anyone can count, the franchise is struggling this much to reach its supposed conclusion.

Diesel clearly wants to give Dom Toretto and his family a proper sendoff, but his enthusiasm seems to be running considerably ahead of the studio's actual plans.

For now, Fast Forever remains a movie without a completed script, an attached director, or a realistic release date.

After years of watching Dom and his crew pull off the impossible, getting this final movie into production might turn out to be their biggest challenge yet.