Fast & Furious 9 Makers Fined $1M After Stuntman Suffered Brain Damage From Fall

The stuntman's safety line detached, and he missed the crash mats in the fall

F9 Lead Image

Chris Bruce

By: Chris Bruce

Nov 27, 2023 at 11:14am ET

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The Fast and Furious franchise is famous for its high-speed automotive action and hard-hitting fights. Making those scenes happen requires the work of a whole team of stuntpeople, but things can go wrong. The production company behind F9: The Fast Saga just received a fine equivalent to $1 million (800,000 pounds) due to a potentially life-threatening injury that occurred during the film's production.

The incident happened while filming the movie in Leavesden, England, in July 2019. Britain's Health and Safety Executive brought a case against the film's production company FF9 Pictures, according to BBC News.

Stuntman Joe Watts suffered a skull fracture and brain damage after falling 26 feet (8 meters) onto concrete. Watt's stunt line detached in a scene where another performer threw him off a balcony, where he then missed the crash mat.

The stunt went fine during the first take. However, the line detached for the second take. The court case found no one checked the cable between the two attempts.

The prosecution said there was "no system for double checking that the link had been properly engaged and tightened." In addition, it claimed the production "did not extend the crash matting needed to mitigate the consequences of an unintended fall following changes to the set and the sequence of the stunt."

The judge in the case said that Watts was "fortunate to be alive."

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F9 made $726,229,501 worldwide, according to Box Office Mojo. This means the fine for Watts' injury is roughly 0.14 percent of the film's total gross.

Fast X was the next installment in the franchise. It ended on a cliffhanger with the fates of some characters a mystery, and the promised return of significant protagonists from previous installments. The sequel doesn't yet have an official title but is supposed to come out on April 4, 2025. There might even be more movies in the franchise on the way.

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