Justin Lin Reportedly Had ‘Major Disagreement’ With Vin Diesel Just Before Fast X Exit

Justin Lin took many by surprise when he announced his exit from the Fast X directing chair last week, and a new report says that it came after issues with the studio and Vin Diesel. As previously reported, Lin announced last week that he was stepping down from the latest Fast & Furious film. Now a report by THR cites multiple sources as saying that Lin’s exit was due to issues with constant changes to the script and “the managing” from Vin Diesel.

According to the report, Lin was not happy with the regular changes to the script as he believed the script he wrote was locked heading into the movie. However, Universal and Diesel made several changes including sending a writer to London to polish up dialogue, cutting a key location in Eastern Europe amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine and more. The film had also not yet cast one of its villains.

The issue is said to have come to a head on April 23rd, when Lin sat down with Diesel during a four-person meeting. The meeting is said to have started with Diesel giving some new notes and turned into a major disagreement, which according to the site “ended with a slammed door.” Lin is quoted by a source as saying, ‘This movie is not worth my mental health.” and he said he was through with the movie. The studio took the comment seriously and a settlement was reached by April 25th which saw Lin exit as director but stay on board as producer.

Both Lin and Diesel declined to comment on THR’s story, while Universal said in a statement, “Any creative differences leading to Justin Lin’s exit were with the studio, not with fellow producers, cast or crew.”

This is not Diesel’s first reported creative clash with someone on the franchise, of course. The actor and producer famously clashed with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson on the set of Fate of the Furious, which led to Johnson’s exit from the franchise. Diesel tried to make a public appeal for Johnson to return to the franchise for Fast 10. Johnson declined, saying Diesel’s public callout 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. It’s unfortunate that this public dialogue has muddied the waters.”

The THR report notes that the budget for Fast X is a massive $300 million, with over $100 million being above-the-line costs including salaries for the extensive ensemble cast. Louis Leterrier is reportedly replacing Lin as director of the film.