Alan Ritchson says Fast Forever is stalled: ‘It’s too expensive to make’

So, here we are – it’s 2026, and if you’re wondering when we’ll finally get the next chapter of Fast Forever after that outrageous Fast X cliffhanger, I hate to break it to you, but you’ll need to hang on a bit longer. Universal has pencilled in 17 March 2028 as the big day, but no one’s putting any money on that actually sticking.

Fast Forever is currently scheduled for release on 17 March 2028, a full five years after Fast X.

Honestly, five years between films in a saga that used to churn them out like clockwork is a bit mad, but here we are. In true Fast & Furious fashion, there’s plenty of rumbling under the bonnet – rumours, delays, and more than a hint of studio hand-wringing over money. And Alan Ritchson, who rocked up as Aimes in Fast X, is right in the thick of it. He’s been chatting about what’s actually holding the sequel up, and it comes down to cash. Lots of it.

‘Too Expensive to Make’

Ritchson recently opened up on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, admitting he’s got the inside scoop on the sequel’s headaches:

‘There’s just a lot of obstacles. It’s expensive to make— it’s too expensive; it doesn’t make a ton of sense. There’s a more efficient way to shoot those shows. And so there has to be a way to show restraint, while also honoring the fact that this world has expanded to something humongous. We are at the crossroads of something very hard to figure out, and everybody’s figuring it out.’

Translation: the films have become ginormous and Universal is sweating over how much it costs to send cars flying out of planes this time around. Fast X had a huge budget but didn’t exactly leave the box office in flames, which has the studio execs eyeing up a ‘back-to-basics’ approach for the next one. There’s word the aim is a $200 million ceiling – which, for Fast & Furious, is practically penny-pinching – so you might want to say goodbye to launching Pontiacs into orbit.

Despite all the faff, Ritchson is adamant the film will happen – just as soon as they solve a few ‘big problems’. Not exactly reassuring, but at least they’re talking about it out in the open rather than pretending everything is running to plan (it isn’t).

Meanwhile, The Ritchson Renaissance

While the Fast family sorts itself out, Ritchson himself is having an absolute whirlwind. He kicked off the year with War Machine, a Netflix sci-fi action number that's already locked in a sequel and an official title. If you’re into barely any dialogue and lots of brawling, Motor City is his latest and it’s actually in cinemas now.

After that, he’ll be all over your Christmas telly in The Man with the Bag (out 2 December on Prime Video) – this time teaming up with Arnold Schwarzenegger playing, of all things, Santa Claus. The premise: Santa’s bag gets nicked, so he recruits Ritchson’s character, a not-so-reformed thief, to help nick it back. Why not?

TV-wise, Reacher fans are in luck, as season three drops on 12 August. And for anyone who can’t get enough of that universe, there’s a spinoff too: Neagley, focusing on Maria Sten’s character Frances Neagley, premieres on 16 September. Plot-wise, it’s all about Neagley, a Chicago PI, going full vengeance mode when an old friend dies under dodgy circumstances, with everything she’s picked up from Jack Reacher and her 110 Special Investigators days in the mix. Ritchson himself pops up for a bit as well.

So, while it might feel like we’re stuck in neutral waiting for Fast Forever, at least Alan Ritchson’s out there doing pretty much everything else until Universal figure out how to not bankrupt themselves with another film.