Alan Ritchson Just Explained Why ‘Fast Forever’ Keeps Getting Stuck In Neutral

The ‘Fast and Furious’ franchise has built its identity on going bigger with every entry, more cars, more explosions, more improbable physics. That formula has made billions for Universal over two decades, but it has also created a problem that money alone cannot seem to fix as the saga heads toward its finale.

Fans have been waiting a long time for closure. It has been over three years since Fast X hit theaters, and despite Vin Diesel’s occasional reassurances, the franchise has made little visible progress toward Fast Forever, which is currently the planned final chapter in Dom Toretto’s story.

Now Alan Ritchson, who played Agent Aimes in ‘Fast X’ and is expected to return for the finale, has offered a rare bit of honesty about what is holding things up. Speaking on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Ritchson said Universal and Diesel are currently “solving some big problems” on Fast Forever, much of it tied to the budget. He put it bluntly, saying “It’s expensive to make— it’s too expensive; it doesn’t make a ton of sense. There’s a more efficient way to shoot those shows.”

That kind of candor is unusual for a franchise actor talking about a project still in development, but the numbers behind it help explain the tension. Fast X carried a production budget of roughly 340 million dollars, making it one of the most expensive movies ever made, and it grossed 714 million dollars worldwide, a total that likely left the film struggling to turn a real profit once marketing costs are factored in.

Given those figures, it makes sense that Universal would want to rein things in before greenlighting the next installment. Reports have indicated the studio pushed for the Fast Forever budget to be cut by around 140 million dollars from what Diesel’s team was seeking, and the standoff appears to be a major reason the movie has yet to move forward at full speed.

The behind the scenes picture gets messier from there. No cast has been officially confirmed for Fast Forever, and while Fast X director Louis Leterrier is expected to return, that has not been locked down either. The script itself has gone through several writers, with Michael Lesslie now the sixth person to take a crack at it, following a lineup that stretches back to the franchise’s earliest days.

Despite the frustration in his own comments, Ritchson did not sound like someone who thinks the franchise is in real danger. He made clear he still believes the movie will come together and turn out well, even if getting there means solving some genuinely difficult problems first. With ‘Fast Forever’ still eyeing its March 2028 release and the budget battle apparently ongoing, fans are left wondering just how much of Dom Toretto’s family will actually make it to the finish line, and what corners, if any, Universal is willing to cut to get there.