Fast and Furious celebrates its 25th anniversary in Cannes: Vin Diesel in tears alongside Meadow Walker

The Croisette experienced an emotionally charged evening on the night of Wednesday, May 13th. Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, and Jordana Brewster reunited at the Cannes Film Festival to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Fast and Furious saga with a special screening of the first film, released in 2001, scheduled for 23:45 pm. Joining them on the red carpet was Meadow Walker, the daughter of Paul Walker, the franchise's iconic actor who died in a car accident in 2013. None of the films in the saga had ever been selected for Cannes, but this first installment was honored with a midnight screening—a way for the festival, deprived this year of major Hollywood blockbusters, to welcome some of the American buzz it is accustomed to.

Vin Diesel in tears while talking about Paul Walker and his daughter

It was after the screening that emotions really ran high. "It's really hard to watch this movie again because there are so many moments I see differently than you. You see a scene, while I see the moment Pablo told me he had a one-year-old daughter," confessed Vin Diesel, tears welling in his eyes. "Pablo" is his affectionate nickname for Paul Walker. "I pray every day that you have a brother like Paul. If there's one person who couldn't let me come alone to represent this brotherhood, it's Meadow Walker," he continued, embracing the young woman to the applause of the audience. In addition to this tribute, the actor and producer also confirmed on Monday the upcoming filming of an 11th installment of Fast and Furious, scheduled for release on March 17, 2028. Universal, which owns the franchise, is also developing a television series adaptation.

A $7 billion franchise that has become indispensable

Born in 2001 around the world of illegal street racing, Fast and Furious has gradually established itself as one of the most profitable franchises in world cinema, with $7 billion amassed at the box office in eleven films. Modest productions at their beginnings, they have become, over the course of the episodes, colossal blockbusters with budgets of several hundred million dollars.