The Rock rejects ‘manipulative’ Vin Diesel’s Fast 10 reunion pitch
A little over a month ago, Vin Diesel made a desperate Hail Mary pitch to get Dwayne Johnson to return to the Fast and Furious franchise for the 10th film. On our Lyles Movie Files podcast, we mentioned how the plea felt like a bit of a low blow.
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Turns out Johnson agreed.
In an interview with CNN, Johnson publicly rejected the notion that he’d be returning to the franchise he helped reach the next level starting with his appearance in Fast 5.
“I was very surprised by Vin’s recent post,” Johnson said. “This past June, when Vin and I actually connected not over social media, I told him directly – and privately – that I would not be returning to the franchise. I was firm, yet cordial with my words and said that I would always be supportive of the cast and always root for the franchise to be successful, but that there was no chance I would return. I privately spoke with my partners at Universal as well, all of whom were very supportive as they understand the problem.”
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There was a lot of hard feelings over the fallout of the shooting of Fate of the Furious, which had become so bad that the two couldn’t even shoot their scenes together.
And while he was great in F9: The Fast Saga, it did feel personal that Diesel cast Johnson’s onscreen WWE rival John Cena in the latest film. It’s not like there weren’t several athletic dudes that could have easily played the role of Dom’s brother. And look more like Diesel as well.
Johnson continued with his thoughts on Diesel’s public plea.
“Vin’s recent public post was an example of his manipulation. I didn’t like that he brought up his children in the post, as well as Paul Walker’s death. Leave them out of it. We had spoken months ago about this and came to a clear understanding. My goal all along was to end my amazing journey with this incredible ‘Fast & Furious’ franchise with gratitude and grace.”
I’m fully with Johnson here. Bringing up Paul Walker and his kids was dirty pool by Diesel especially after Johnson already turned him down privately. Did Diesel think making a public plea was somehow going to magically change his mind?
What do you think of this seemingly never-ending drama?
Photo Credit: Universal
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