Fast & Furious 9 director on how it connects to Fast 10 and Fast 11

Fast & Furious 9 will be the first entry in the final trilogy of the franchise.

Since it began in 2001, nobody could've guessed just how successful the Fast & Furious franchise would become. Across the eight previous Fast & Furious movies, and the Hobbs & Shaw spin-off, the series has banked almost $5.9 billion at the global box office. Originally, the series was due to end with Fast 10, but it has recently been confirmed that Fast & Furious 9 will actually be the first entry in the final trilogy of the franchise. Additionally, there is an all-female spin-off in the works (which will see many of the Fast & Furious females return, and joined by some top secret new cast additions), as well as a sequel to Hobbs & Shaw. When JOE had the opportunity to chat to Justin Lin, we knew he'd be the man to ask about this final trilogy. On top of directing and co-writing Fast & Furious 9, he has also previously directed the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth entries, and will be remaining in the director's chair for Fast 10 and Fast 11, too. This is what he had to say when we asked about plot through-lines from 9 heading into the final two movies: "For me, it has always been about 'Let's talk about the mythology, let's talk about the universe', but I'm never arrogant enough to say that we're gonna go on forever. "So it was always that I'm gonna give you everything I have for this one movie. And I have to say that when I came back, talking to Vin [Diesel], this is the first time where we were talking about one more movie. We were talking about one more chapter. "So [Fast & Furious] 9 is really the beginning of the final chapter. So it has been very liberating to think of it in those terms, to know that our real estate; to know that you can watch 9 and really enjoy it, but that it is just the beginning of our final chapter." Additionally, this feeds into what Vin Diesel had said about the impending final two chapters: "[Part] of the reason why Fast 10 has to be broken into two different movies is because there is so much ground to cover and there are so many places and so many locations in the world that we have to visit." You can check out our full chat with Lin, as well as chat with Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, and John Cena, right here: Meanwhile, Fast & Furious 9 is due for release in Irish cinemas on Thursday, 8 July. Check out our breakdown of the trailer right here.