Vin Diesel Promises Street Racing Comeback and Hints that Paul Walker Might Return in ‘Fast & Furious 11′

Vin Diesel just dropped some big news for fans of the “Fast and Furious” franchise. At Fuel Fest, a car lover’s event held in Pomona, California, Diesel showed up on stage with Tyrese Gibson and Cody Walker and shared a few surprises about what’s coming in the next and final movie in the series.

He said the last “Fast and Furious” movie is now expected to come out in April 2027. According to Diesel, the studio wanted that specific release window, and he agreed—but only under a few conditions.

“The studio said to me, ‘Vin, can we please have the finale of ‘Fast and Furious’ [in] April 2027?’” Diesel told the crowd. “I said, ‘Under three conditions.’ First, is to bring the franchise back to L.A.! The second thing was to return to the car culture, to the street racing! The third thing was reuniting Dom and Brian O’Conner.”

That last part caught everyone’s attention. Paul Walker, who played Brian O’Conner in the series, died in a car crash in 2013. It’s not clear exactly how Diesel plans to “reunite” the two characters, but it hints that Brian could appear in some way, possibly through digital effects or unused footage. No further details were given.

The series has changed a lot over the years. It started as a street racing story in Los Angeles but turned into a globe-trotting action franchise with huge stunts and massive budgets. Diesel’s promise to bring the story back to LA and its street racing roots sounds like a tribute to the very first film, which came out in 2001.

The most recent movie, “Fast X,” came out in May 2023 and made more than $700 million worldwide. But it also had a very large budget of $340 million.

It featured a huge cast, including Diesel, Jason Momoa, Alan Ritchson, Michelle Rodriguez, Brie Larson, and Rita Moreno. That movie was supposed to be the first half of a two-part story, but it’s unclear if the next film will still pick up where “Fast X” left off.

Originally, the eleventh movie was supposed to come out in 2025. Director Louis Leterrier was already confirmed to return, and screenwriters Christina Hodson and Oren Uziel were working on the script. But Hollywood strikes in 2023 caused delays. After that, the release date was moved to 2026, and screenwriter Zach Dean stepped in to take over.

Even with all the changes, Diesel has made it clear this next movie will be the last. He first confirmed that in early 2024. Since then, fans have been waiting to hear what the finale will look like. At one point, producers hinted that the movie would go back to basics, with one big mission and a new villain instead of continuing with the Dante character from “Fast X.”

No matter how it plays out, it sounds like the final chapter of “Fast and Furious” is going to focus more on the cars, the streets of L.A., and a possible emotional goodbye to two of its most iconic characters: Dom and Brian.

As of now, the new release target is April 2027. More news is expected as filming gets closer.

Have something to add? Let us know in the comments below!