Rumors began circulating this Friday (Oct. 3) that Universal, the studio that produces the "Fast" movies, and the creative team behind the films, which includes the franchise's star Vin Diesel, have reached an impasse regarding the budget of "Fast X: Part 2" (h/t The Wall Street Journal). Specifically, Universal reportedly wants the budget to come in at under $200 million, and the current script from Diesel and his creative partners is suggested to project a $250 million budget.
You may be asking yourself, "What's $50 million amongst friends?" Setting aside that shedding $50 million would be a 20% reduction in budget — not insignificant — this seems to be about more than just the budget of "Fast X: Part 2." 2023's "Fast X" cost Universal $436 million, according to a Forbes report from 2024, and that was significantly overbudget.
Now, Universal seems to have had enough of the "Fast" movies' free-spending ways and is reportedly refusing to greenlight "Fast X: Part 2" until its budgetary demands are met. That means we could see the tentative release date window of April 2027 shift, so start bracing yourself for that possibility now.
Vin Diesel responds to 'Fast' cancelation rumors with cryptic post
For his part, Vin Diesel seems unbothered by Universal's rumored demands, or at least, unintimidated. On Sunday, the star finally broke his silence in a cryptic Instagram post.
As you can see, Diesel doesn't address the rumors directly, but it's not a stretch to connect the dots between reports that the studio wants to cut his budget by 20%, and his posting that "Creativity is the key to all things. When you maintain the integrity, the rest follows."
Translation: Don't take away my money if you want the best movie possible.
Will Universal cancel 'Fast X: Part 2?
So the million-dollar question — or in this case, $50 million — is, will Universal actually shelve "Fast X: Part 2" if Vin Diesel and the creative team don't find a way to save money?
The answer is complicated, but most likely Universal can't hit the brakes on "Fast X: Part 2" at this point. While the April 2027 release date was announced by Diesel, and not Universal (technically, there's no official release date), it would be a bad look for the studio to remove it from the calendar entirely. Just ask Marvel how the press around "Blade" has been.
Additionally, Diesel has reportedly already started filming the movie. Just last week, he posted on Instagram about "an incredible day filming."
That's not to say all is well. The full post ends with the line, "Because no matter who’s writing the checks, this family answers to you…" which seemingly indicates that Diesel will take the film elsewhere if he needs to, something that would likely take well-paid lawyers or a serious bag of cash, given that the last "Fast and Furious" movie brought in over $700 million at the box office.
No matter how this drama ends, I'll be shocked if this movie doesn't see the light of day with Universal and Diesel both still very much a part of it.
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