Fast and Furious director Justin Lin on why he wants to film in Australia and the laws of physics

The Fast and Furious films have long played fast and loose with the laws of physics, but director Justin Lin reveals why F9 has a blast going even further.

There’s a moment in the new Fast and Furious movie where Ludacris’ much loved character Tej turns to Tyrese Gibson’s Roman and says with a perfectly straight face: “As long as we obey the laws of physics, we’ll be fine.”

The scene in question is arguably the most preposterous in a franchise that has given that phrase new meaning as Vin Diesel’s Dom Toretto and his crew of street-racing petrolheads-turned-international-spycatchers have redefined what could – and should – be done with the humble automobile. And it must be said, as the multibillion-dollar action juggernaut releases its ninth chapter, with two final films to come, the laws of physics were abandoned years ago as turbocharged cars leapt between skyscrapers, drove up walls and dodged submarines.

“I am guilty of that,” says a slightly sheepish Justin Lin, who returned for F9 after directing chapters 3 to 6 and then sitting out the last two. “It’s one of those things where even as we are designing the action we are obviously very conscious of what we are doing. I literally have working rocket scientists and engineers to make these big action sequences happen. So, we are not accidentally playing with the laws of physics, we are purposely playing with the laws of physics.”

Director Justin Lin and star Vin Diesel on the set of F9.

Audiences clearly don’t care if the bounds of credulity get tested – since the franchise launched 20 years ago with the original The Fast and the Furious, the films have earned a collective $7.5bn at the box office, despite losing one of their original stars and biggest drawcards when Paul Walker was killed in a 2010 car crash. And contrary to what one might think, Lin says the first conversation before each new chapter is not necessarily “How the hell do we top the last one?”

“I don’t think it’s as much that,” agrees Lin. “It’s usually, for me, about trying to make sure that it’s worth coming back and it’s not something that we have done before.”

Lin thought he was done with the franchise after Fast & Furious 6, when the long-time Trekkie embraced the chance of a lifetime to direct Star Trek Beyond. But Diesel, who emerged as the driving force for all things Fast and Furious after the third film, continued to sound him out about the future of the movies and his central character Dom, and was keen to get him back to helm the trilogy that begins with F9 and will finally wrap up the characters’ epic journey.

Dom (Vin Diesel) and Jakob (John Cena) in F9, directed by Justin Lin.

“He might not have known that he was going to have to come back, five years ago when I told him, but I know that there’s responsibility to bring that epic and anticipated finale to the franchise, or to this era of the franchise, that is that trilogy of nine and the two parts of 10,” says Diesel. “I couldn’t have imagined anyone else in the world.”

Lin describes F9 as an intersection of four different Fast and Furious movies – John Cena is introduced as Dom’s estranged brother, Jakob, Charlize Theron’s villainous terrorist Cipher is still plotting world domination and Sung Kang’s long-thought-dead character Han makes a miraculous return – and says it sets up the events of the final two films. But having burned rubber about the globe from the streets of LA to Tokyo to Havana to London, what are the chances of the Fast franchise finally making it Down Under? There’s at least one powerful advocate of seeing Dom’s signature Dodge Charger tearing up the Sydney Harbour Bridge, and Lin hints that it could well happen.

“Every time we do this, Steve Windon, our amazing cinematographer is from Australia and he is waiting,” says Lin with a laugh.

“He knows it’s going to happen and I know it’s going to happen and I am always trying to find the right time. I am dying to get down there and be able to hang out and shoot something. So, let’s see. Fingers crossed.”

F9 opens in cinemas on Thursday.