The Real Reason F9's Final Scene Was So Difficult To Shoot

The scope of the "Fast and Furious" films has increased dramatically over the franchise's two-decade history. While the first film was, by comparison, more of a small-scale mediation on dynamics of law enforcement, undercover street racing, and family, the series soon became a globetrotting action-adventure series featuring an ensemble cast of the world's biggest stars.

As the films grew larger over time, the filmmaking techniques employed to pull off the mind-blowing stunts seen in the movies became increasingly complex. After all, some of the most memorable "Fast and Furious" car chases have involved a stolen Russian submarine, dragging a full-size vault through the streets of Rio de Janeiro, and weaving through a minefield in Central America. The climactic chase scene in "F9" saw the crew using giant magnets to yank cars across the street of Tbilisi and even destroying an attacking aircraft.

Filming sequences like this requires advanced CGI integration, stunt work, and creative editing. Of course, when a film is being put together around the world with busy, high-profile actors, sometimes lower-tech challenges rear their heads as well. Here is the real reason that the final sequence of "F9" was so difficult to film.

After the crew is done messing with magnets and has recovered Tej (Chris Bridges) and Roman (Tyrese Gibson) from space, Dom (Vin Diesel) hosts a barbecue to honor their success. After saying a brief prayer, Dom indicates that one of their crew is missing, gesturing to an empty seat left for Brian, the character once portrayed by the late Paul Walker.

The emotional weight of the situation aside, filming this sequence proved challenging because of the difficulties of getting the film's stars together. Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Jordana Brewster, who plays Mia in "F9," revealed that instead of shooting the scene in Los Angeles as was once planned, scheduling challenges instead forced it to be filmed in London.

Shooting in the U.K. came with its own set of challenges. Brewster explained. "There'd be a couple of hours where it was sunny and we'd run and shoot and we'd wait a bunch of hours and it would start raining and we couldn't," she said. Beyond that, the actress admitted that much of the scene was "shot piecemeal." 

Actors arrived at different times, and then the footage was edited together. Brewster even shot a scene with director Justin Lin's driver as a stand-in for an unavailable actor on at least one occasion. Thankfully, everything came together, and the film ends with a shot of Brian's legendary blue Skyline GT-R pulling up at the barbecue. Fans will just have to wait until the next chapter in the "Fast and Furious" saga arrives to learn what that means.