Fast & Furious Shifts Gears: Peacock Orders Explosive TV Series
The "Fast & Furious" franchise is expanding into television with a new live-action series greenlit by Peacock, targeting a 2028 release. While fans await the new show, the final film, "Fast Forever," faces significant production delays, with its future remaining uncertain despite a preliminary 2028 release date.
The long-running “Fast & Furious” franchise, known for its evolution from a low-budget street racing and crime film into a globe-trotting action-adventure saga featuring supercars and even space travel, is expanding its universe with a new live-action television series. While the purported final film, “Fast Forever,” faces production delays, the TV series is moving forward, with Peacock giving it the green light.
The franchise, which began as a low-budget film inspired by a 1998 article in Vibe, has grown significantly in scope and budget over the years. It centers around a team of street racers turned government agents, led by Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel), his wife Letty (Michelle Rodriguez), sister Mia (Jordana Brewster), and the late ex-cop Brian O’Conner (Paul Walker), alongside an expanding roster of allies. The original film, “The Fast and the Furious,” launched on June 22, 2001, marking the 25th anniversary of the iconic series this year.
The new scripted live-action “Fast & Furious” TV series, first announced by series star Vin Diesel in May, has now been officially ordered by Peacock, an arm of the Universal conglomerate that also releases the films. The series will be helmed by Mike Daniels (“Sons of Anarchy,” “Shades of Blue”) and Wolfe Coleman (“Shades of Blue,” “911: Lone Star”) as co-showrunners, pilot writers, and executive producers. Vin Diesel will also serve as an executive producer, alongside Sam Vincent, Neal H. Moritz, Pavun Shetty, Jeff Kirschenbaum, and Chris Morgan.
Peacock aims to premiere the “Fast & Furious” series by 2028, aligning its release with the targeted launch of the next film installment, “Fast Forever.” Vin Diesel expressed that the demand for expanding legacy characters and their stories into the TV space has been present for a decade, and that the timing became right when Donna Langley began overseeing the projects, ensuring the integrity and international appeal of the characters would be protected. Diesel notably stated that Peacock is launching “four shows from the ‘Fast and Furious’ universe.” This marks the second time the franchise has ventured into television, following the CG-animated “Fast & Furious Spy Racers,” which ran on Netflix for 52 episodes between 2019 and 2021.
Regarding the cinematic future, “Fast Forever,” intended as the concluding film in the saga, has not yet entered production, three years after “Fast X” hit theaters. Louis Leterrier, who directed “Fast X,” is set to direct “Fast Forever,” with a preliminary release date of March 17, 2028. However, reports indicate some cast members have voiced dissatisfaction with the increasingly outlandish direction of the franchise, casting uncertainty on when, or if, the film will commence production.