Fast & Furious Saga on Fumes: Is The Next Movie Even Happening?

Vin Diesel keeps saying the Fast finale is about to hit the starting line. A new Wall Street Journal report says: not so fast. If you were expecting a quick follow-up to Fast X: Part I, it has been more than two years and the next movie doesn’t look anywhere near a greenlight.

Diesel says April 2027. The math says… maybe not.

At FuelFest, Diesel told fans the studio asked him to deliver the big finish by April 2027 — and he laid out his terms.

"The studio said to me, 'Vin, can we please have the finale of Fast & Furious in April 2027?' I said under three conditions: The first is to bring the franchise back to L.A. The second thing was to return to the car culture — to the street racing! You wanna know what the third thing was? The third thing was reuniting Dom and Brian O'Conner. That is what you're gonna get in the finale! Love you!"

That sounds great on stage. Behind the scenes, the WSJ says there’s a bigger problem: these movies cost a fortune, and the audience has thinned just enough that those price tags no longer make sense.

The studio math (aka the inside baseball)

• Fast X reportedly cost about $340 million and grossed $705 million worldwide. Huge number, sure — only four movies this year have cleared that range: Ne Zha 2, Lilo & Stitch, A Minecraft Movie, and Jurassic World: Rebirth. But after marketing and profit shares, the take-home was slim. The report even suggests Universal may have lost money when the dust settled.
• Universal still wants another Fast movie, but only if the budget comes way down. The target is around $200 million — roughly $140 million less than Fast X.
• There is a script for Fast X: Part 2, but the current plan ballooned to about $250 million. That’s too rich for the studio right now.
• Cost-cut ideas reportedly include trimming screen time for long-running cast members — or not bringing some of them back at all.

The cast problem

The last movie left Dom Toretto in serious trouble and set up Dwayne Johnson’s Hobbs return. Add Jason Statham (whose stock has only gone up) and Jason Momoa (who just led A Minecraft Movie, one of the year’s biggest), and you’re looking at a roster that is not cheap to assemble.

Then there’s Diesel’s third condition: bringing back Paul Walker’s Brian. That means advanced AI and CGI — the kind of VFX work that is both technically tricky and very expensive. Great for nostalgia. Brutal for a budget cap.

So… is the finale happening?

Universal reportedly wants to make another one. They just want it at a price that actually turns a profit. Right now, the numbers, the cast costs, and the VFX wish list don’t line up with that goal. The cliffhanger is still dangling, Diesel is still hyping, and the studio is still doing the math.

Maybe the Fast Saga isn’t out of gas. But the version with the full original crew and a digital Brian? That might be the part that stalls before the finish line.