How Ludacris Fueled Rumors Of The Fast Franchise In Space

When news broke that Fast & Furious might actually be going to space, it was shocking, but not necessarily surprising. That's because rumors had been circulating for months about where the franchise — which had just revived a beloved (and seemingly dead) character — planned to go. 

Initially, the rumor felt like hot air. In 2017, Chris Morgan, the writer behind every Fast franchise film between Tokyo Drift and Fate of the Furious, told fans that the billion-dollar movie series wouldn't be taking to the skies anytime soon. "Look, I get all versions of that question," Morgan told Uproxx. "I get, 'Are you going to space?' and, 'Please, God, tell me you're not going to space because you'll lose me if you do.'... Look, no plans for it right now, so hopefully, people will be good with that." 

Still, before going off to write the Hobbs & Shaw spin-offs, Morgan did leave the door cracked open just a little bit. "But, never say never," he said. "If we came up with the perfect thing and it made sense, it will be awesome." 

Three years later, and following the news that F9 was delayed first until April 2021 and then to May 2021, star Ludacris seemingly let something slip in an interview with SiriusXM. After The Jess Cagle Show co-host Julia Cunningham dropped that taking the Fast and Furious crew to space was one of the only remaining ways the franchise could top itself, the rapper-turned-actor offered a knowing look and insinuated that something Cunningham said was on the nose. 

"You just said something very important. I will say that you are very intuitive cause you said something right, but I'm not going to give it away," a wide-eyed Ludacris teased. 

While Ludacris' comments could be taken as just good teasing fun, it sparked a response from another cast member that seemingly brought the idea of F9 or one of the two remaining chapters in the franchise going to space closer to being real. In her own appearance on The Jess Cagle Show several months later, star Michelle Rodriguez responded to the rumors Ludacris had stirred up during his visit to the show. And the actress alluded to space being on the table. 

"How did you guys find that out? See what happens?" Rodriguez said. "People start talking behind the scenes, man. When a movie doesn't come out and forget about it, things get out. Nobody was supposed to know that!"

No one else attached to the production has gone on record about whether space is truly in the cards for the latest installment, including Tyrese Gibson, who in an interview with Comicbook.com declined to speak about reports of F9 going to space.  But in a franchise known for its big characters (on and off-screen) and it's even bigger action sequences, space seems like a natural new frontier. 

Now fans will have to wait and see if it actually happens in F9 or a chapter after — in which case, "going to space" could be more in line with Tom Cruise's upcoming project for Universal.