Emotional Vin Diesel leads 'Fast and Furious' tribute in Cannes

CANNES (AFP): An emotional Vin Diesel and teary “The Fast and the Furious” co-stars Michelle Rodriguez and Jordana Brewster soaked up applause at a special cast reunion at the Cannes Film Festival Wednesday on the 25th anniversary of the original movie.

Speaking at a raucous midnight screening of the 2001 street-racing blockbuster, which Cannes supremo Thierry Fremaux hailed as a “classic”, Diesel paid tribute to late fellow driver Paul Walker.

Walker, who died in a car crash in 2013, was represented by his daughter, the actress and model Meadow Rain Walker, who shared a long hug with Diesel on the red carpet.

“The person who was not going to let me come alone here, to represent that brotherhood, was Meadow Rain,” Diesel said inside the full-capacity main cinema in Cannes.

“I’m going to go shed a tear real quick,” he added.

The Fast franchise, now an 11-movie series that has grossed more than 7 billion dollars at the box office, is set to end with “Fast Forever” in 2028.

Diesel, 58, sounded surprised at the warmth of the tribute from Cannes tastemaker Fremaux who said the series “had become a classic” and had “left an enormous mark on the history of cinema”.

“To come with a film, that you, the head of the most prestigious film festival in the world, where every artist in the world wants to be recognised, that you are calling this film we did 25 years ago a classic, how profound is that?” Diesel said.

Fremaux, who made bringing big American films to Cannes an early priority of his two-decade tenure, has been left without a major Hollywood blockerbuster premiere for the 2026 edition.

Cannes typically relies on US studios providing some A-list razzle-dazzle to the event which otherwise focuses on independent, auteur cinema in its main competition.

But Hollywood majors such as Disney, Sony and Warner, as well as streaming giants Netflix and Amazon, have decided against launching films at Cannes this year.

The special screening of “The Fast and the Furious”, owned by Universal,  was a late addition to the programme.

Reasons for the studios’ absence include cost-cutting, a growing preference for tightly controlled social media-led launches for their films and the risk that a mauling from the Cannes critics can doom a movie.

Diesel announced on Monday that “The Fast and the Furious” concept is being adapted into a television series by Universal without giving details about its release date.