If you’ve ever watched a Fast & Furious fight scene and struggled to pick out a winner, there may be a good reason for that – Jason Statham, Vin Diesel and Dwayne Johnson are rumoured to have a ‘fight contract’ that ensures none of them lose.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the three male stars have contracts in place which make sure that they all have an equal number of punches and none of them comes off worse than the others during on-screen fights.
Their sources claim that Vin even came up with a ‘points plan’ assigning values to different fight moves to ensure everyone was on equal footing, which was eventually scrapped as it was too complicated to keep track of.
When asked whether vanity plays a part in the decision to make sure none of the lead characters comes off worse than the others, Fast & Furious producer Michael Fottrell said: ‘No comment… Of course it does!’
A Universal spokesman told the WSJ: ‘[The fights ensure] every character has their moment, and that all are seen as formidable opponents. ‘Each Fast & Furious character is a hero to someone watching, and we never forget that.’
Sources also report Vin Diesel’s sister, Samantha Vincent – who also works with him on the franchise – said: ‘He’s falling down right here. Is he going to get his licks back in?’
Fans of the franchise have noticed that fights tend to end due to something splitting the men up rather than with a clear winner, such as in Furious 7, when a helicopter fires a missile which opens up the ground between Jason and Vin during a fight.
It’s also been claimed that Jason likes to watch the fight scenes as they are edited to make sure he’s happy with how they look. A post-production crew member claiming: ‘It’s like that old trope where an actor comes in and wants more close-ups. They want more muscles.’
