With a budget of $225 million, an immeasurable amount of star power, and gravity-defying stunts, Fast & Furious 9 has become arguably the biggest blockbuster event of 2021.
Fans are so thrilled about the movie that they’ve been showing their excitement by creating hilarious memes, but it didn’t become this much of a zeitgeist without some trials and tribulations. Between stunts that were cut from the movie, having to keep secrets from loved ones, and even auditioning cars, the development of the movie sounds like almost as much of a circus as the movie itself.
The Director Refused To Use CGI Cars
Director Justin Lin, who helmed four other movies in the franchise as well as F9, refused to use CGI cars. The director argues that, given that audiences see cars in everyday life all the time, then anything that’s computer-generated, even the smallest part of the car, would look off to the viewer.
However, using CGI would be a lot more cost-effective, as the Fast and Furious series has destroyed over a thousand cars at this point, which surely adds up to a pretty penny.
The Decision To Use The Old Universal Pictures Logo
The first surprise of the movie comes before it even properly starts, as the Universal logo isn’t the flashy computer-generated image that has been used for years now, but is instead the logo from the late '80s.
The studio made the decision to use the old logo because the opening scene is set in 1989, the day after Dom’s (Vin Diesel) father dies. It isn’t the first time that the series has played around with the Universal logo either, as in 2 Fast 2 Furious, the logo transforms into the wheel of an SUV.
Sung Kang Didn’t Even Tell His Wife He Was Returning As Han
In Fast & Furious 6, it was revealed that Han (Sung Kang) was killed by Shaw all the way back when his car exploded in The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, but nobody ever stays dead in the F&F series. Han somehow returns in F9, but as he’s one of the most beloved characters of the series, Kang and Lin wanted to keep his role top secret.
This meant that the actor wasn’t allowed to attend any birthday parties of the actors on set, but more alarmingly, Kang didn’t even tell his wife that he was returning to the role. But it all worked out for the best, as it’s the best surprise of the movie, even if it does lessen one of the most tragic deaths of the series.
Helen Mirren Was Embarrassed To Drive With Vin Diesel
As the all-star cast of the Fast & Furious series continues to mount with every consecutive release, one of the most surprising additions to the cast for Fate of the Furious was Helen Mirren. She didn’t have much to do in the eighth movie, but in F9, she’s actually in on the action.
But according to Mirren, it wasn’t that easy. The actress can be found driving around with Diesel in the new movie, and she said it was intimidating with him in the passenger seat, but she still managed to enjoy it, mostly because she loves his voice.
Vin Diesel Wasn’t Sure About Taking The Saga Into Space
Though it would never have been expected in 2001 when The Fast and the Furious was first released, as it simply started out as a street racing series, sending the franchise into space was just a natural progression.
But surprisingly enough, after jumping through skyscrapers and taking down giant submarines, Diesel wasn’t completely convinced about going to space. His first reaction to the idea was, “No, no, no, no, no,” but it wasn’t long until the thought of it gave him a Cheshire Cat-like grin.
Letty And Mia Share Their First Scene Together Thanks To Michelle Rodriguez
According to Jordana Brewster, Michelle Rodriguez is so committed to the character of Letty (Rodriguez) that she’ll refuse to do anything if she doesn’t think it’s in her character, but that was taken up a notch for the production of F9.
Rodriguez complained that Letty and Mia (Brewster,) the two strong female characters, have never had any screen time together, and she demanded that their ‘sisterhood’ be explored in the ninth movie. Luckily, Lin was all for it and it shows on screen.
John Cena Hid His Cross Necklace Whenever He Wasn’t Filming
It has been clear for a while now that Jakob (John Cena) is Dom’s brother, who he is tasked with hunting down. But it was a cat that the director didn’t want to let out of the bag too early, just like with Han’s return.
In the movie, Jakob wears a giant crucifix necklace, and as Dom is often seen wearing a similar necklace, if anybody saw that, they would have easily been able to put two and two together. So during production, Cena would quickly hide it or give it to someone when the camera wasn’t rolling. He explains that it was the last part of wardrobe that he would put on, and the first part that he would take off.
The Cars Had To Audition For The Movie
When it comes to this franchise, it isn’t just actors who have to audition for roles in the movies, but according to Diesel, the cars have to audition too.
The actor explains that the cars that each of the characters drives are such important representations of who they are, so it only makes sense to audition them. And to Diesel’s credit, ever since the first movie, the cars in the Fast & Furious series are as much characters as Dom and Letty are.
John Cena Did (Most Of) His Own Stunts
Ever since he began his wrestling career, Cena has been prone to performing his own stunts, and for the most part, that what happened with F9. It isn’t the first time that an actor has performed their own stunts in the series, as Paul Walker would often take it upon himself to be his own stuntman too.
But when being asked about it, Cena hilariously mentioned that he isn’t as bothered as others about doing it all himself, claiming that he isn’t looking for validation on his masculinity.
A Weather Balloon Stunt Was Cut
With F9 taking the series into space, that almost wasn’t enough for director Justin Lin, as there was a stunt that the studio demanded that he cut. The director wanted a weather balloon to take the Pontiac Fiero into the outer atmosphere.
According to Lin, the reason why the stunt didn’t happen is simply that the budget kept inflating. He even says that, looking back at it, he probably would have even paid for it himself if he was afforded a redo.