Vin Diesel on Sunday asked Dwayne Johnson to make peace and return to the Fast and Furious franchise.
The two superstars had an epic falling out in 2016 when they clashed for the last time on the set of The Fate of the Furious. The two mega action stars made their first onscreen appearance together in 2011’s Fast Five. They have been exchanging barbs in the media ever since Johnson made an Instagram post in 2016 referring to Diesel and in which he questioned his professionalism.
However, it seems Diesel is ready to put the drama behind them.
“My little brother Dwayne… the time has come,” Diesel began on an Instagram post. “The world awaits the finale of Fast 10. As you know, my children refer to you as Uncle Dwayne in my house. There is not a holiday that goes by that they and you don’t send well wishes… but the time has come. Legacy awaits.”
Continued Diesel, “I told you years ago that I was going to fulfill my promise to [Paul Walker]. I swore that we would reach and manifest the best Fast in the finale that is 10! I say this out of love… but you must show up, do not leave the franchise idle you have a very important role to play. Hobbs can’t be played by no other. I hope that you rise to the occasion and fulfill your destiny.”
Johnson could not be immediately reached for comment.
The most recent exchange in their long-running beef happened when Diesel in June said during a Men’s Health interview that his interactions with Johnson were from a place of “tough love.”
“It was a tough character to embody, the Hobbs character,” Diesel said. “My approach at the time was a lot of tough love to assist in getting that performance where it needed to be. As a producer to say, Okay, we’re going to take Dwayne Johnson, who’s associated with wrestling, and we’re going to force this cinematic world, audience members, to regard his character as someone that they don’t know — Hobbs hits you like a ton of bricks. That’s something that I’m proud of, that aesthetic. That took a lot of work. We had to get there and sometimes, at that time, I could give a lot of tough love. Not Felliniesque, but I would do anything I’d have to do in order to get performances in anything I’m producing.”
Johnson, of course, responded.
“I laughed and I laughed hard,” he told The Hollywood Reporter. “I think everyone had a laugh at that. And I’ll leave it at that. And that I’ve wished them well. I wish them well on Fast 9. And I wish them the best of luck on Fast 10 and Fast 11 and the rest of the Fast & Furious movies they do that will be without me.”
Following their falling out, Johnson has gone on to star in the spinoff The Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw, opposite Jason Statham. That film went on to gross $759 million globally in 2019. Diesel’s latest Fast installment, Fast 9, was released earlier this year and grossed $721 million globally, making it the top-grossing Hollywood film of the pandemic.
Diesel is attached for Fast 10 and Fast 11, from filmmaker Justin Lin. Fast 10 is set for an April 7, 2023 release date from Universal. Lin has described Fast 9, 10 and 11 as being chapters in a trilogy that will close out the main Fast franchise, which dates back to 2001 and made Diesel a global star.
