‘I’ve only done two thirds of a ‘Fast and Furious’: ‘Fast X’ director can’t wait to build the next one from the ground up

With the recent release of Fast X, fans of the adrenaline-fuelled car franchise are already gearing up for the release of an eleventh Fast film. But it’s not just lovers of big car chases and bigger explosions looking forward to the next movie: Louis Leterrier, director of the tenth film in the series, is also incredibly excited at the prospect of stamping his mark on any future films (including those that might contain the potential return of a key cog of the family).

In a recent interview with The Wrap, Leterrier, the newest director to be welcomed aboard the ultra-successful franchise, spoke on a range of topics, from controlling his massive cast to his thoughts on the next film, which is already in development. While the content of the interview varied greatly, one thing that was clear was his passion and love for the project, even if these feelings led to some trepidation. When discussing how he felt coming into the series, Leterrier was candid about his mixed feelings:

“It was daunting but exciting at the same time. And then it’s not like I was going into a non-terrain. There’s nine movies, plus a spin off, plus a short film. There’s all these movies that I’ve admired and loved for 20 years. I’ve watched and analyzed them all. I could speak the language. So I just walked in. It was actually pretty easy to fit in.”

Before he’d accepted the role of director, he had much bigger doubts about whether or not he could execute his vision and produce something that lived up to the massive well of Fast content that was already out there. It took a bit of pushing from his wife for him to take the jump, even though helming a movie in the franchise had been his “dream forever.” If you’re a fan of the Fast films, there’s no doubt you’ll be happy with his work and based on comments made by his cast, it’s clear he loved doing it too.

With that all said, the question of whether or not he wanted to direct the next installment (now confirmed) was a lot easier for him to answer, especially since he’d have the opportunity to work on the eleventh film from scratch instead of just shooting and editing it, as he did with Fast X:

“Yeah. Well, I’ve only done two thirds of a Fast and Furious movie. I’ve only shot and posted a Fast and Furious movie, so I’m excited to prep. Very early on, there was a feeling of comfort between the cast and I and the studio. Although it was not a done deal, we started thinking about the next one very early on, because we need to plant the seeds. We didn’t want to make this one just another episode. We wanted to make it part of a bigger thing. We had to know where we were going to go. So very early on, we started, not knowing I was going to direct it, but I was like, ‘Even if I’m not directing, I think we need to focus on the next one.'”

This is hardly a surprise as directors tend to be very hands-on types who want to put their fingerprints on all projects they work on. Importantly, though, his passion for the franchise is clear to see in all the media he’s done, so it looks like the next Fast film will be pretty steeped in the lore of the films, giving fans plenty of opportunities to spot easter eggs, callbacks, and all those other fun things you get when you put a fan in charge of a film or television show. Plus, the way Leterrier is approaching it seems to be very much like a passion project, which flies in the face of the idea that people only sign up for the Fast films for an easy role and guaranteed payday.