Fast and Furious 10 gets official release date, as series finale looms

Fast and Furious 10 now has an official release date of April 7, 2023, it's been revealed. The movie will be directed by Justin Lin, who has previously directed Fast & Furious, Fast Five, Fast & Furious 6 and this year's F9, and is part one of a two-part finale to the series.

That's the word from EW, which quotes Diesel as explaining that the 10th movie in the action/street racing/space exploration series will start filming in January next year. It's unclear when the 11th movie will follow in theaters, but Diesel has previously suggested that parts one and two of this finale will film together. 

It's not been revealed which of the series' vast ensemble will return for the tenth part, but Dwayne Johnson has already confirmed that his character, Luke Hobbs, won't be back for the final two entries. Johnson and Diesel have notably had a feud of sorts in the past – which Diesel has chalked up to "tough love" on the set of Fast Five to elicit a better performance from Johnson.

"I laughed and I laughed hard. I think everyone had a laugh at that. And I’ll leave it at that," Johnson said when asked about this during a THR interview.

The whole thing has the energy of two dads who fell out at the gym. 

Much more likely to return is Jason Statham's Deckard Shaw, who (spoiler alert!) makes a brief cameo in the ninth movie, alongside Sung Kang's Han Lue. Frequent collaborators like Tyrese Gibson, Michelle Rodriguez, Chris Bridges and Jordana Brewster all seem likely to return, with some surprises no doubt in store. 

If you missed Fast and Furious 9 in theaters this year for whatever reason, you can now rent it on Amazon Prime Video. 

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Analysis: Fast and Furious still reigns supreme

There's no doubt that appetite for the Fast and Furious series remains incredibly high. Aside from two Chinese releases, F9 remains the clear box office winner in this largely diminished year – raking in $681.5 million worldwide. It was one of the series' least acclaimed entries, though, with 59% on Rotten Tomatoes, the lowest since Fast and Furious in 2009. 

Still, you'd be hard-pressed to argue that this series exists to please critics. It's a series that's become infamous for one-upping itself when it comes to wild set pieces – and taking a car into space in F9 sets a precedent that these next two movies will no doubt work hard to top. 

It's also about family, of course. 

Hopefully, by the time April 2023 rolls around, the world will look a little more normal when it comes to the theatrical release schedule, and everyone will be watching this tenth movie at the same time.

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