If you were one of the people who saw “The Fate Of The Furious” on Thursday night, you probably found yourself on Google during the closing credits, trying to figure out whether the film had a credits scene that would tease “The Fast And The Furious 9.” The fact that there isn’t a stinger for the film might’ve come as a surprise to long-time fans of the franchise, but here’s another shocker for you: the film did originally have a post-credits sequence, but Vin Diesel cut it.
(You’re warned of some light spoilers from here on in.)
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Those who have seen the film know that Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham‘s chemistry is one of the real highlights of the film; as the movie progresses, their two characters have gone from mortal enemies to begrudging friends, with at least one source telling The Wrap that NBC Universal had even considered a spinoff movie with both characters. To capitalize on this, the crew had originally shot a stinger that would put an exclamation point on this relationship, but this scene had been shot without Diesel’s knowledge or involvement. Once Diesel learned that the final moments of the film would focus on his two costars — and not the main storyline involving Dominic Toretto’s newfound family — the actor reportedly became “enraged,” raising all sorts of hell with NBC Universal until they finally agreed to remove the sequence from the film. As The Wrap notes, the studio went so far as to have “all the theatrical prints recalled and cut the scene.” Looks like we’ll have to wait one more movie to see those two characters throw down (or hug it out, whatever comes first).
Of course, this only heightens the controversy around Johnson’s comments towards Diesel during production, suggesting that this feud may be less the professional wrestling-style theatrics that some had expected and more a good, old-fashioned clash of egos. We’ll have to see how if and when this situation resolves itself before the next movie, but don’t expect to see a lot of shared screen time between Diesel and Johnson anytime soon.
“Fate Of The Furious” is now playing in theaters everywhere, but don’t stick through the credits, ‘cuz there ain’t nothing there.