Vin Diesel Says the 'Fast Forever' Script Made Him Cry — but the Director Hasn't Read It Yet

Vin Diesel has read the script for the 11th and final Fast & Furious film, and it moved him to tears. The franchise's leading man and producer took to Instagram to declare that screenwriter Michael Lesslie's draft for Fast Forever is "the best script I have read in decades," adding that he was "still crying" after finishing it (Variety).

The director attached to the film, however, has not. Louis Leterrier, who directed 2023's Fast X and is returning to helm Fast Forever, told Polygon during the press tour for his sci-fi horror film The Last House that he still has not seen the script (Variety). So the star is emotional about a screenplay his director has yet to open.

Lesslie was announced as the screenwriter in March 2026. According to sources cited by Variety, he rewrote an earlier draft by Aaron Rabin and Zach Dean — Dean was involved in the story for Fast X (Variety). Lesslie's credits span big-budget franchise fare: The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, Assassin's Creed, and Now You See Me: Now You Don't. His next film, Sunrise on the Reaping, reaches cinemas on 20 November.

Fast X grossed $714 million worldwide and ended on a cliffhanger, with two post-credit scenes teasing the returns of Gal Gadot and Dwayne Johnson (Variety). The stage was set for a finale — and now it has a date.

Diesel announced a March 2028 release window earlier this year, and the film is slated to arrive on 17 March 2028 (Variety). That gives Leterrier roughly 19 months to read the script Diesel calls the best in decades — and to start turning it into a movie.

For fans, the gap between Diesel's enthusiasm and Leterrier's blank slate is the detail that lands. One of Hollywood's longest-running action franchises is heading into its final chapter, its star is visibly moved by the writing, and its director is, by his own admission, not yet in the conversation. Production timelines for films of this scale typically lock in months before cameras roll, so the script will reach Leterrier's desk soon enough. Whether it lands with him the way it landed with Diesel is a question only the next few months will answer.