‘Fast Forever’ Faucets Michael Lesslie, Screenwriter of ‘Hunger Games’ Prequels

Welcome to the “Fast Family,” Michael Lesslie.

On Thursday, “Fast and Furious” star and producer Vin Diesel introduced that Lesslie will write the script for Universal’s “Fast Forever,” mapping out Dominic Toretto and his crew’s ultimate quarter-mile.

Diesel shared the information on Instagram, posting a black-and-white picture of himself assembly with Lesslie to debate the script for the long-anticipated franchise finale, dated for theatrical launch on March 17, 2028.

“25 years. Eight directors. Countless writers, crew members, performers, each one giving something real to a saga that has outlasted trends, cynics, and time itself,” Diesel started his caption. “That doesn’t happen by accident… It happens because people show up and pour themselves into something bigger than any one individual.”

That dialog, Diesel defined, helped him recapture the sensation of “a story with something real beating inside it.”

“There is a particular weight that comes with delivering a finale. A responsibility you feel in your chest, to everyone who gave something to get here, to the audience that stayed,” Diesel continued. “You don’t take that lightly. You take it as fuel. And when you find out you’re going back to Los Angeles… back to the streets where it all began, something clicks into place. The city that made the first film feel alive, still here, still holding. Coming home to close it out right. That’s not logistics. That’s a gift.”

As Diesel famous, the stakes are certainly excessive. Over the previous 25 years, the “Fast & Furious” motion pictures have grossed a complete of $7.3 billion, making it Universal’s most worthwhile and longest-running franchise (2015’s “Furious 7″ is the top-grossing installment with $1.5 billion worldwide; 2023’s “Fast X” grossed $704 million). By the time “Fast Forever” debuts, followers could have endured a five-year wait to seek out out what occurred after the explosive final minutes of “Fast X,” marking the longest stretch between installments because the franchise started.

Sources say Lesslie is rewriting a script beforehand written by Aaron Rabin and Zach Dean. The screenwriter most lately penned “The Hunger Games” prequels “The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes” and “Sunrise on the Reaping,” in addition to “Now You See Me: Now You Don’t” and Riz Ahmed’s modern “Hamlet.” Lesslie has additionally been in talks to jot down Marvel’s subsequent X-Men film.

Lesslie is represented by CAA, Untitled, Casarotto and lawyer Jim Gilio at Sloan Offer. Universal had no remark.