The Fast & Furious 9 producers face a lawsuit and a hefty fine after a tragic stunt accident during filming in 2019. Directed by Justin Lin, F9: The Fast Saga was released in 2021, and was followed up by Fast X this year. Fast & Furious 9 was a relative box office success, taking home $726 million.
Two years after the film’s release, the Fast & Furious 9 producers are facing a lawsuit after an on-set accident. As per Variety, the producers were fined $1 million for “life-changing” injuries faced by stunt performer Joe Watts. Watts is also suing Warner Bros. $1.2 million in personal damages.
The Fast & Furious 9 Lawsuit Explained
Watts is an experienced stunt performer who has worked on other major action sets including Solo: A Star Wars Story, Ready Player One, and Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. His life changed on the set of Fast & Furious 9 when a stunt mishap flung him 25 feet onto a concrete floor below. This wrongly-executed stunt left Watts with a fractured skull and a traumatic brain injury that has had lasting impacts on the performer.
After an investigation of this incident, it was determined that his stunt vest line had become detached. The incident was then brought up in a U.K. court when the U.K.’s Health and Safety executive claimed that FF9 Pictures had failed to address a critical component during the risk assessment: a “rope snap or link failure.” This failure involved neglecting to inspect Watts’s vest and extend the crash matting. Watts’ injuries were reportedly life-threatening, and District Judge Talwinder Buttar declared him “fortunate to be alive.”
Watts has not been able to return to work as a stunt performer as a result of his injuries, thus having a vast impact on his career. This fact is noted in his $1.2 million against the production company, which is still pending. As Watts continues to face career losses after his tragic Fast & Furious 9 injury, the lawsuit will hopefully side in his favor as his case develops.
F9: The Fast Saga
- Release Date:
- 2021-06-25
- Director:
- Justin Lin
- Cast:
- Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Jordana Brewster, Tyrese Gibson, Ludacris, Nathalie Emmanuel, Charlize Theron, John Cena, Sung Kang, Helen Mirren, Lucas Black, Kurt Russell
- Rating:
- PG-13
- Runtime:
- 143 Minutes
- Genres:
- Action, Adventure, Crime
- Writers:
- Daniel Casey, Justin Lin, Alfredo Botello
- Budget:
- $200–225 million
- Studio(s):
- Universal Pictures
- Distributor(s):
- Universal Pictures
- Sequel(s):
- Fast X, Fast and Furious 11, Fast & Furious 12
- prequel(s):
- Fast & Furious, 2 Fast 2 Furious, The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, The Fast And The Furious, Fast Five, Fast and Furious 6, Furious 7, Fast and Furious 8
- Franchise(s):
- Fast and Furious
