Why Was the Entire ‘Fast X’ Third Act Rewritten on Set?

A great third act can make a movie very memorable, but I wouldn't want to write it on set. 

It's not a Fast and Furious movie without a little drama. Fast X got off to a crazy start when Justin Lin left directing the movie and was replaced by Louis Leterrier. Now, Leterrier shared a story with Esquire Middle East about how he was actively rewriting the third act. 

He said, “I read the script four times on the plane, and I said I had some ideas, and they said, ‘Great, because the whole third act is changing. Can you rewrite it tonight?’ I was literally on no sleep. I’d been on no sleep for days.”

That's not an ideal way to go into a project, but it seems like he was up to the challenge. 

“Obviously, this was not going to be set in stone,” Leterrier continued. “But I was like, ‘Okay, yeah, I’ve got some ideas,’ and started writing. And obviously, since the third act was changing, I needed to change the first act. And when you rewrite the third act, and the first act, the second act has to go. So, basically, I had to on the fly rebuild the airplane.”

This work was done and Leterrier secured the job, after meeting with Diesel and the producers. With the trailer drop today and excitement building for the final chapter, we'll have to wait until May to see the final product. 

Let us know your thoughts in the comments.