After Vin Diesel's 'Best in Decades' claim, Fast Forever hits trouble: no director, unfinished script
Vin Diesel called Fast Forever’s screenplay the best he’d read in decades—so why is the film now reportedly coming up short?
A new report says the supposed finale, Fast Forever, doesn’t have a finished screenplay and that Louis Leterrier is no longer attached to direct. The claims, from Jeff Sneider’s newsletter The InSneider, haven’t been confirmed by Universal, but they put fresh question marks over the film currently dated for March 17, 2028.
Finale hits a speed bump
That’s a hard left turn from August, when Vin Diesel publicly praised a draft by writer Michael Lesslie and said it moved him to tears. Leterrier, who steered Fast X, later told Polygon he hadn’t even read the draft Diesel was celebrating, while expressing hope there would be a proper ending and that he’d be involved.
“the best script ” he’d read “in decades”
Money has been a pressure point, too. In 2025, The Wall Street Journal reported Universal wanted the finale made for roughly $200 million after Fast X’s production costs swelled to around $340 million, with fewer locations, a slimmer ensemble, and scaled-back set pieces on the table to keep the last lap in check.
There’s also chatter about what comes after Dom’s goodbye. Per The InSneider, Charles Melton has come up in internal conversations about a younger generation of Fast characters, though no offer has been made and nothing is official.
TV spinoff revs up
While the movie side wobbles, Peacock has ordered a live-action scripted series set in the Fast & Furious universe and is eyeing a 2028 premiere. Diesel will executive produce alongside longtime franchise architect Chris Morgan and several partners, marking the franchise’s first live-action TV expansion after Netflix ’s animated Spy Racers.
- Vin Diesel — executive producer
- Sam Vincent — executive producer
- Neal H. Moritz — executive producer
- Pavun Shetty — executive producer
- Jeff Kirschenbaum — executive producer
- Chris Morgan — executive producer (longtime franchise writer)
- Mike Daniels — co-showrunner and pilot co-writer
- Wolfe Coleman — co-showrunner and pilot co-writer
Peacock revealed one scripted project for now and is keeping plot and casting under wraps. Daniels (Sons of Anarchy, Shades of Blue) and Coleman will lead the writers’ room and pen the pilot, with Diesel having teased a broader TV footprint during NBCUniversal’s May upfronts.
As for the film, The InSneider questions whether the March 17, 2028 date holds if production slides deep into next year, while Peacock’s live-action series continues to target 2028.