Fast & Furious 9 co-writer and director Justin Lin has opened up about an ambitious stunt that almost made it into the movie – but ultimately had to be cut because it was too expensive.
Ahead of the release of the action-packed sequel, the filmmaker revealed that he had hoped to include a scene where Sean Boswell’s Pontiac Fiero is sent up into outer space in a weather balloon.
He was so keen, in fact, that when those in charge of the money ended up vetoing the idea, he was close to offering up the funds himself.
“The cost kept coming in, I kept fighting it,” Lin relayed to Slash Film. “And if I’m looking back now, that is the one setup that I would have personally paid for the weather balloon.
“I just always love starting any crazy idea with truly doing it ourselves. We had a lot of reference to work off of, but if you’re asking me personally, that that was one that I was adamant [about]. But the budget – I think even on big budgets – I felt like we found the limit of what we can do.”
In the end, a similar sequence made it into the final edit but it’s safe to say that it’s not exactly what Lin had originally mapped out. (Think more ‘rocket car’ rather than ‘weather balloon’.)
In Fast & Furious 9, Vin Diesel will once again reprise his role as Dom Toretto and be seen sharing the screen with fellow returning players Michelle Rodriguez, Jordana Brewster, Ludacris, Tyrese Gibson, Sung Kang and Game of Thrones’ Nathalie Emmanuel.
Dame Helen Mirren and Charlize Theron are also back as Magdalene Shaw and cyber-terrorist Cipher, respectively. In fact, the only significant cast member who’s new is John Cena, playing Dom’s estranged brother Jacob.
