An Olivia Wilde Fast & Furious movie is not currently on Universal’s schedule, but the actor and filmmaker would very much like to change that. Speaking at the British Film Institute’s Southbank venue in London on Sunday, Wilde said directing car chases for a living sounded close to ideal.
The 42-year-old was discussing the influences behind her 2022 thriller Don’t Worry Darling, which ranged from Alfred Hitchcock to the elaborate musicals of Busby Berkeley. Cars were another major attraction.
“The car chases were fun as I love cars and would be very happy just shooting car chases forever,” Wilde told the audience. “I’m really trying to get a job directing, like, The Fast and the Furious 25, just because I don’t think you need plot, you just get to drag and crash cars. I can’t imagine a better job!”
She returned to the idea during an audience question-and-answer session. Wilde said she wanted to make another psychological thriller after everything she learned on Don’t Worry Darling, then renewed her application for employment in Vin Diesel’s unusually durable automotive universe.
“I mean, Fast and the Furious! I really think, just give me a chance and I can do it! I really believe in it,” she said. “So we’ll see, fingers crossed.”
The franchise finale is not exactly ready to race
Wilde’s comments arrive during genuine uncertainty around the next film. Variety has reported that Fast Forever will be the 11th mainline entry and the saga’s finale, with a release scheduled for March 17, 2028. That differs from earlier descriptions of the project as the start of a possible three-film conclusion.
Vin Diesel said he hoped filming could begin in December 2026, subject to studio approval. According to Variety, the project has spent four years in development and gone through four sets of writers. Louis Leterrier, who directed Fast X, said in August that he had not read the latest script. TheWrap reported in October that production had not yet started.
As of November 2, neither Universal Pictures, Diesel nor Wilde’s representatives had publicly suggested that she was under consideration. Her remarks remain an enthusiastic public pitch, not a hiring announcement. Hollywood occasionally requires paperwork in addition to applause.
If Wilde did get the job, she would become the first woman to direct a released film in the franchise. Previous instalments have been led by filmmakers including Rob Cohen, Justin Lin, James Wan, F. Gary Gray, David Leitch and Leterrier.
The series has released 10 mainline films and the spin-off Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw, earning more than $7 billion worldwide. Fast X made more than $700 million against a reported production budget of $340 million, while Furious 7 remains the commercial peak at roughly $1.5 billion.
Diesel has said he wants the finale to return to Los Angeles, street racing and “car culture.” He has also proposed bringing Dominic Toretto back together with Brian O’Conner, the character played by Paul Walker. Walker’s brother Cody Walker has ruled out serving as a stand-in, telling Variety: “I love the way his character exited the franchise.” Peacock, meanwhile, has approved a Fast & Furious television series for 2028, with Diesel serving as an executive producer.
Wilde is moving between very different productions
The scale of Fast Forever would mark another sharp turn in Wilde’s directing career. Her 2019 feature debut, Booksmart, was followed by the larger psychological thriller Don’t Worry Darling. Her latest film, The Invite, is a more contained relationship comedy shot on 35mm and centred on two neighbouring couples over the course of one evening.
Wilde directed and stars in The Invite alongside Seth Rogen, Penélope Cruz and Edward Norton. She said the response to the film and her other 2026 projects had been “wild,” adding that she had changed her approach since Booksmart.
“I feel like the shift that I made was to focus entirely on the experience I wanted to have, without any expectation or self-consciousness or fear of result,” she said. Wilde argued that letting go of anticipated reactions had made her more fearless, particularly while making The Invite.
Her other recent roles include a dominatrix in Gregg Araki’s I Want Your Sex and an appearance in Tony Gilroy’s music drama Behemoth!, starring Pedro Pascal. She is also filming the Universal Christmas comedy Naughty in London, which she described as a “love letter” to the late Rob Reiner.
Why Wilde directed herself in The Invite
Wilde said she had never planned to build acting roles for herself through directing. She first appeared in one of her own films during Don’t Worry Darling, explaining that the decision came “out of necessity” after the production ran out of money and could not find anyone else willing to work for free.
Her role as Angela in The Invite came about differently. Wilde said she would not have cast herself, but Rogen, Cruz and Norton insisted she was the only person for the part.
“I was terrified and kind of mortified by it,” she said. “I felt like, does this make this somehow a narcissistic exercise?”
Wilde ultimately found that acting in the film helped her understand the cast’s performances from inside each scene. Whether that experience qualifies her to supervise several hundred million dollars’ worth of cars, explosions and tense discussions about family remains Universal’s decision.
