The Fast and Furious franchise roars to life once more, with Hobbs and Shaw taking over theaters last weekend. While Jason Statham and Dwayne Johnson exude charisma onscreen together, the film wouldn’t exist without David Leitch’s wild and fun vision. The director sat down with Screen Rant to discuss the crazy stunts, incredible villains, and plans for the future of the franchise as well as his own storied career.
The Fast and Furious franchise has defined itself with a huge ensemble cast as a part of its billion-dollar success. While the Hobbs and Shaw cast doesn't lack names, it’s certainly centered on two title characters. How did you and the producers change the formula with two leads?
David Leitch: Well, I think we just wanted to build on the great dynamic that they had in the previous three films. That was what attracted me to the property in the first place. I love the scenes that they were in, and they sort of had this undeniable quality together. The opportunity of making something that has a spirit of more of a buddy cop movie, like Lethal Weapon or some of those 80s throwback movies. That's what we wanted to do. Obviously, with the addition of all the Fast style action and physics-pushing set pieces.
Stunt coordinating, particularly-hand to-hand combat, is your specialty. What did Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham add to their physicality that sets them apart from many other actors?
David Leitch: I've worked with Jason a lot in the past as a stunt coordinator and a choreographer. It's really second nature for him. He knows his way around a fight scene, and he knows his way around choreography. He's fully involved and 100% added to it. Dwayne is no different. He's a journeyman action performer. Obviously, his years in WWE have made him understand stage combat. It's really refreshing to work with actors that have such prowess in choreography.
Idris Elba’s character was a recipient of a procedure that gave him super-fast reflexes and super strength. Why was he right for the role?
David Leitch: You know, he probably didn't need all those enhancements. I think that's why he was right for the role. When you're looking for someone to stand up to two iconic action stars who are the double team of action, as you would call it, you needed someone who's formidable. Not only physically, but also with his acting chops. And so, when Idris' name came up, we were pretty excited that we finally found someone that could stand up to these guys.
Adding his cyber enhancements was just a little bit of a bonus to lead things to the next level.
Awesome. It was recently reported that Idris wasn't comfortable with a joke about him being James Bond during the film. After seeing his work on this project, do you think he would make a good James Bond? And what can he bring to the role that hasn't been explored yet?
David Leitch: I think Idris Elba can do anything that he wants to do and set his mind to. If you look at him, he's a Renaissance man. He's an actor. He's a musician. He's a director. And so, if he wants to play James Bond, he can play James Bond because he will crush it. I'm surely not going to stand in the way of anything that that talented artist wants to do. Anything that he gets involved in, he enhances.
He wrote a song for the movie. A lot of times that happens and you're sort of like, "Yeah, we'll see if it works." But I heard it, and I loved it. And we found a place for it, and it rocks. It actually plays over the chase. It’s him and Cypress Hill, and it plays over the chase with the McLaren at the base of the CIA building.
That's really impressive. The Fast and Furious franchise and its action set pieces have gotten increasingly far-fetched over the years. However, with this chapter, it seems that you've truly embraced the comic book tone with an adversary who has superpowers through science. How did you balance the tone? Why isn't this a step too far for audiences?
David Leitch: I think you'd have to be careful with these movies, and I think that the Fast universe has always done a great job of reinventing itself. But I think that the audiences love the heightened level of action and like, "Oh, shit, what are they going to do next?" So, we embraced it; we chose to make a stand.
I'll say this: the way that we blended CGI and practical stunts was more unique than most. In the sequence at the end of the movie with the helicopter and the cars, each shot has some practical elements. The helicopter is 95% real photography, Black Rock, as are the cars on the ground. The stunt team did an amazing job, and the visual effects team did. I think the more practical elements you can have in a shot, the better the CG enhancements of that world happen. You challenge those artists to match the practical photography, and it makes your stuff look better.
Let me just say this is one of the most fun movies I've seen in quite a while. It is just pure fun. What percentage of stunts would you estimate that Jason Statham and Dwayne Johnson were able to pull off themselves?
David Leitch: Well, I mean, that's always a tricky number. I think that these guys do more stunts than most. And you're looking at probably 85% - 90% of the time. The only time you would put a stunt performer in is either schedule, or it's just too risky to risk your main talent. So, they're both willing to step up. They both did wire work, they both did fight scenes, they both did car work. They're action stars, and they get in there and mix it up.
You're an expert in shooting close quarter combat and experienced with car chases. However, the car chase action sequences in this series are unlike anything that have been done before. Does your philosophy for shooting action change with the car chase scenes in this film?
David Leitch: It did, I think. Because it’s the Fast world, and because of the element of Fast pushing the boundaries of ideas. There was a combination of some really grounded practical stuff, and some great CGI visual effects. You look at the McLaren chase with the motorcycles; that is pure stunt performance, 100%. Great drivers, great motorcycle riders, and old school tracking photography. But then we're augmenting it with the mechanics of the bike, and the bike doing things that certainly can't be done in real life. Finding the blend of the two was needed for this franchise, and it was actually really fun.
Your style seems tailor-made for more brutal action pieces, but Hobbs and Shaw is the first time you've directed anything less than a rated R experience. What kind of sacrifices did you have to make to secure the rating, and in what ways did the PG-13 rating actually help you tell the story?
David Leitch: That's a really good question. I think that the PG-13 [rating] did help us tell the story. Honestly, we went into this movie with the goal in mind to make something that reached a wide audience of all ages and international. And to do that, PG-13 is not a bad place to be. In the third act set piece with the brothers fighting in Samoa, taking the guns out of the equation was an idea that I had to really just have more fun with the set piece and to demonstrate through the action, the brothers coming together and teamwork.
By removing the guns, we actually removed an element that would have taken it to the rated R space. But instead, that fight scene allowed us to be PG-13, and I think it works better for the story. Plus, we get to see Roman Reigns and Dwayne fighting side by side who doesn't want to see that?
Actually, I was just gonna ask you about that. Roman Reigns is the Rock’s cousin, I believe. This is really his first film, right?
David Leitch: I'm pretty certain it's his first film. It's one of his first, for sure. And we were fortunate to get him. He's had some health issues in the past, and it was really great that we could have him on board to play one of Dwayne's brothers. The fact that they're real blood was always sort of icing on the cake.
There’s a ton of cameos, but I'm not going to spoil who's in this film. Do you plan on expanding on any of those characters, like Locke or Roman Reigns’ character?
David Leitch: My intention was, and I hope that the studio hears that, is that we wanted to build a world that was fertile ground for spinoffs. When I came on board, the idea was, "How can I immediately, with this film, strike a pose to build out Hobbs' and Shaw's individual worlds so that they could do their own their own films?"
But then also, characters in that world could have the ability to do their own, as well. And if you look at it, we have movie stars in this movie. Dwayne Johnson, Jason Statham, Idris Elba, Vanessa Kirby, these other people we can't mention. You realize that there's potential for a lot of avenues for just the Hobbs and Shaw universe to go.
There’s a ton of cameos that are that is I thought were amazing. Were there any other characters from the franchise that you wanted to include in this, but maybe with timing or anything else couldn't make happen?
David Leitch: There wasn't anybody that we couldn't make happen. I think that in different incarnations, we talked about crossovers with a lot of different characters from the current franchise and from the past. But we kind of ended up where we wanted to be, with the hopes that in the future these two worlds can cross-pollinate.
The Deadpool franchise is now a Disney property. Have you had any discussion with the studio about possibly returning for a sequel or any other property at all?
David Leitch: I haven't. But I'm open to it. So, Kevin, give me a call.
They just announced Blade, too. You seem like a natural fit for that movie, and for a number of their streaming shows. Do you have any interest in doing something like Blade?
David Leitch: I love Blade. And it's actually one of the first stunt jobs that I was in. In the original Wesley Snipes one, I was a stunt performer. I was in the blood club. You remember that scene? Yes, dancing around in the recycled special effects blood. It was great.
I'm a huge fan, and I love that character. So, yeah, there's always a conversation, and it's great. Mahershala is such a great actor. I've been fortunate to work with some great actors, and I never go wrong that way. Having him play that role is a big deal and would be really exciting. So, yeah, I would love to have that conversation.
That would be amazing. You co-directed John Wick with Chad Stahelski. Have you talked to him about working on another project together?
David Leitch: Yeah, Chad and I are really, really good friends. We're like brothers, and we've been together for 20 years as friends. There's always talk of what we can do together and how we can be partnering up. I think what's happened with our careers is really great. It's not unlike what happened with our second unit careers. We started to direct second unit together, and then the opportunities just got so big that we split up and did our own things. But there's always talk of coming together to do something big.
Obviously, Hobbs and Shaw isn't the only high-profile project that you have coming. An adaptation of the video game The Division is preparing to shoot, with you at the helm and Jake Gyllenhaal and Jessica Chastain set to lead. Why is this film right for adaptation, and what is it about the story approach that drew you in? Are you a fan of video games?
Chris Leitch: I wouldn't say I'm a massive fan of video games, but there are certain ones that I really do enjoy. In the past, years ago, I used to play Madden quite a bit. So that's been my inroads into video games. The Division itself, I do like the core concept of the sort of Everyman and woman bonding together to figure out how to restart civilization. I like that core concept. I obviously like the action, in terms of the style of the game. It's not unlike the stuff I've done in John Wick, so there's something really cool about that. Or even in Atomic Blonde, like the stairwell scene, I see elements of that in what we could build in the action into The Division.
But mainly, it's just the group of people involved in that project that got me really excited. Jake and Jessica as creatives, Kelly McCormick, my producing partner. And the world of The Division is incredibly cinematic, so the opportunity in there and the fertile ground for something cool is kind of undeniable, so it’s exciting.
Last question. Obviously, Dwayne and Jason are amazing together. How much of their performance was actually on the page, and how much leeway did they have to just riff with each other?
David Leitch: I gave them a lot of leeway. Look, we always came in with a plan on the page. But individually, they both would usually come forward with more ideas about their dialogue. So, we started out with what was on the page, and then we riffed on the ideas that people brought in. And somewhere in the middle, we found those golden moments.
I wouldn't say it was pure improv. But if you did put a camera on these guys and shot this [documentary] style, they are very witty and very much like the characters. It's fun being on set with them.
Thank you so much, David. I just recently found out that you were an old episode of Power Rangers, with my buddy Mike [Chaturantabut], so that that was crazy for me.
David Leitch: Mike Chat is a good friend. That was my role, Brian. I'm very proud of that role.