CANNES, France, May 13 (Reuters) – The Cannes Film Festival revved up the glamour on Wednesday night with a buzzy red carpet for the midnight screening of the original “The Fast and the Furious” with star Vin Diesel.
Diesel, wearing a black jacket with a racecar design “Fast Forever” – the next sequel in the series set for 2028 – in sequins on the back, went up and down the line of shouting fans who had gathered for hours at the carpet to pose for selfies.
He was joined on the carpet by Jordana Brewster and Michelle Rodriguez, who shot to fame with the 2001 film about street racing that launched a franchise for Universal Pictures and spawned nine sequels and a spin-off, “Hobbs & Shaw.”
To date, the franchise has made over $7 billion at the global box office.
Their co-star Paul Walker, who died in a car crash in Southern California in 2013, was represented by his only daughter, Meadow, who had a cameo role in “Fast X.”
Ahead of the screening in Cannes’ luxurious Grand Theatre Lumiere, Diesel told the audience about how festival director Thierry Fremaux had praised the film.
“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 and honoured, you, are calling the film that we did 25 years ago a classic,” he said.
“How profound is that?” he added.
“Fast Forever” will hit cinemas in March 2028, with the original cast, as well as Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, who joined the franchise from “Fast Five,” and Jason Statham, set to join.
In addition, Diesel announced on Monday that four original television series based on the film franchise are in development. An NBCUniversal press release distributed later in the day listed only one “Fast & Furious” show in development.
(Reporting by Rollo Ross and Miranda Murray; Editing by Lincoln Feast.)
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