Fast X Director Louis Leterrier Had His Heart 'Broken' By The Franchise In The Past
There's something to be said for a reliable craftsman like "Fast X" helmer Louis Leterrier. Few would try and seriously argue that the director of "Transporter 2," "The Incredible Hulk," and "Now You See Me" is secretly a visionary, but there's absolutely a consistency in quality to his work regardless of genre or budget. It's what also allowed Leterrier to quietly go from helming every episode of the virtuoso puppet fantasy series "The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance" to establishing the template for the deft and quick-footed crime caper "Lupin" in the span of but two years.
Even with a plethora of experience under his belt, "Fast X" is easily the biggest challenge Leterrier has ever taken on ... as one would hope given its reported $340 million (!) budget. On top of that, it's a job that he stumbled into under pretty bizarre circumstances. As you may recall, he took over from Justin Lin after the latter — who re-invigorated the "Fast & Furious" franchise with "Tokyo Drift" before overseeing its finest hour yet with "Fast Five" — stepped down shortly after the start of production.
"There's a phone call. I didn't hear the news," Leterrier told Uproxx. He explained:
"I was finishing a movie and I was in the midst of it. And then my phone rang and it was Peter Cramer, the head of production at Universal. We were in touch, but he doesn't call me often. And I texted him, 'Oh, you must have butt-dialed me. Nice to hear from you.'"
Naturally, with the fate of a $300 million tentpole hanging in the balance, Cramer didn't waste a second getting back to Leterrier and seeing if he was interested in captaining the ship to port. Interestingly, however, this wasn't Leterrier's first encounter with The Fast Saga.
'I've been down this road before'
Between directing Sacha Baron Cohen's 2016 action/comedy "Grimsby" and his trip to Thra on "Age of Resistance," it turns out Louis Leterrier nearly landed an invite to the Toretto family's perennial barbeque. It's the same reason he was cautious not to get his hopes up before signing on the dotted sign for "Fast X." In his own words:
"I've been down this road before. I mean, literally, there was one of the 'Fast and the Furious' where I had the job, and then something happened and I didn't have the job."
Leterrier confirmed he meant 2017's "The Fate of the Furious," which was ultimately directed by F. Gary Gray. "I thought my heart would be broken again, so I didn't get attached," Leterrier added.
Gray, in many ways, is a skilled workman like Leterrier, so you can see why the pair wound up being front-runners on "The Fate of the Furious." That being said, as a Black filmmaker with a background in music videos and well-received heist thrillers like "Set It Off" and "The Italian Job" to his name, Gray probably read as the stronger match for "Fast & Furious" anyway. So that, too, might have played a role in Universal selecting him for the job over Leterrier.
Whatever the case, Leterrier eventually got to shoot his shot with "Fast X" and has already been invited back for "Fast 11." Honestly, as the director who's brought some truly absurd moments to life on the big screen (believe me when I tell you this decidedly NSFW "Grimsby" scene will remain burned into your memory forever), perhaps Leterrier was always destined to helm what everyone seems to agree is definitely the most outrageous "Fast & Furious" movie yet.
"Fast X" is now playing in theaters.