Fast and Furious 10: ‘I thought the franchise was ripe for making fun of itself’, Louis Leterrier and the French touch of the $6 billion saga

Fast & Furious X hits theaters this Wednesday. French director Louis Leterrier (Clash of the Titans, The Insaissables, Lupin) directs the latest installment in the Vin Diesel-powered franchise.

The latter briefly replaced Justin Lin, director of Tokyo Drift and Fast & Furious episodes 4, 5, 6, and 9, who left filming after a week.

Therefore, the French director had 4 days to prepare for this gigantic shoot and rewrite the script with his personal touch.

In Fast & Furious 10, Dom (Vin Diesel) and his family face the saga’s worst villain: Dante Reyes, played on screen by Jason Momoa. The latter is none other than the son of con man Hernán Reyes (Joaquim de Almeida), who appeared in Fast Five.

In 2011, Dom and Brian (Paul Walker) take down a notorious Brazilian drug lord and toss his empire off a bridge in Rio de Janeiro. Little did they know that his son Dante watched helplessly as he spent the last twelve years hatching a hellish plan that would exact the ultimate price from Dom.

Dante takes Dom and his family to the four corners of the world, from Los Angeles to the catacombs of Rome, from Brazil to London, and from Antarctica to Portugal. New alliances will be formed and old enemies will reappear. But everything changes when Dom realizes that Dante’s main target is none other than his barely 8-year-old son.

In conjunction with the release of the event film, we were able to interview Louis Leterrier. The latter went back to his preparations, meeting the film’s 5-star cast, what the saga brought and the meta aspect of the feature film. familiarity.

AlloCiné: You were called to replace Justin Lin in Rescue and had only four days to prepare. What happened during the few days you had to rewrite the film?

Louis Leterrier : During these four days, I was screaming a lot in the room, banging my head against the wall and saying: “No! Yes! Many tears, joy. It was really crazy!

During these 4 days there were many doubts. There was the initial joy of reading the first script, which I enjoyed, but then it gave way to pressure. I said to myself, “This is huge! Making this film without preparation is unheard of. Why me?”

And then I started working. You have to eat this elephant, but one bite at a time. So I took it very slowly. Methodically. I found a kind of methodology to start preparing for one day, one week, three weeks, one month, etc. And finally, I got there.

But filming isn’t just about doing what’s on the page, there are things that need to change. Meeting the characters, touching my director, changing things… In short, I do what the director is required to do: make his film, not just a performer and contentment with action and editing.

The actors and characters are similar

It was a lot of work, but I have a real passion for franchising. I was able to meet these actors, whom I have admired for a quarter of a century, and I realized that the actors and the characters are really similar. it’s business Vin Diesel But also for Michelle Rodriguez and all the actors in the saga.

I was able to meet Charlize Theron and many legendary actors. Indeed, I took an extraordinary leg. I didn’t sleep much the first week, but I had a lot of fun. And after my first weekend I started to feel really comfortable.

AlloCiné: How do you feel when you go to the set of such a big blockbuster with a budget of 340 million dollars. I imagine he must have some fear?

Louis Leterrier : Yes, because this is the 10th installment of a world famous franchise that was just enjoyable and I didn’t want to be the director that comes in and crashes the franchise. So it was really difficult. And for me and for France, I didn’t want to be the young Frenchman who arrives and crashes.

I didn’t want to be the young Frenchman who comes and crashes.

AlloCiné: In the film, Jason Momoa says that Dom and his family form a “cult around cars that all the bad guys join.” . There’s a meta aspect to Fast X and a back to basics, is that what you wanted?

Louis Leterrier : absolutely. All these years I have watched these films as a viewer, as a fan and as a director. And I wanted to give viewers a heads-up by saying that we know that we overdo the codes from time to time.

We know that gravity in these movies isn’t so much about all the bad guys turning pretty, the dead coming back to life… we know that, and that’s why Quick X We are talking about a sect. Jason Momoa uses the word “family” as an insult. This is not Dom’s family, this is really an insult to him. It makes him sick. As soon as he says the word “family” he vomits.

A franchise ready to make fun of itself

There was already a hint of humor in the first version of the script, but I added it. I didn’t want to break the integrity, but I figured it was just right to add some humor and self-mockery.

I always thought it was great… but it might be too French. I find that the French have a lot of self-mockery, and I think I added that because it makes me laugh, and to me the franchise was ready for it.

AlloCiné: Which scene was the most difficult for you to shoot? A bomb scene in Rome?

Louis Leterrier : In fact, the most difficult scenes to shoot are very simple scenes. These are the house scenes… There are so many people in the American teams for this type of film that when you had to shoot a scene with two people in a room, it didn’t work out. Between the teams, the cameras, the light… we couldn’t take a picture.

I had to tear down a real wall to withstand the cameras. They are not used to letting the light go. And since we shot these sections from the beginning, it was difficult to explain the French methodology to them. The main thing is the relationship with the characters. So we’re not going to use a long lens to do a love scene. It’s just me and them in the room.

When Dom and Letty are together in their room talking to each other, I want to bring the audience to them, and that was a little difficult. The technicians said to me, “But wait, the crane arm we brought?” And I replied, “No, you don’t need a crane arm, just a small camera.”

The Fast and the Furious 10 It opens in theaters this Wednesday, May 17. Then Louis Leterrier directed Fast 11.