Movie fans might be eagerly awaiting the tenth instalment in the Fast & Furious movie franchise, but residents in the suburb of Los Angeles where filming for Fast X is taking place are less than ecstatic.
People living in the Angelino Heights area of L.A. are so fed up with the unwelcome attention the movies have brought since the The Fast and the Furious appeared in 2001 that they’re planning to stage a protest during a shoot due to take place this Friday.
“We will hold this protest to honor the 178 people who have been killed by street racers in Los Angeles, and to shame Universal for their callous disregard for this deadly epidemic of street racing their films started and continue to promote,” a resident wrote to the Los Angeles City Council in an email seen by entertainment trade bible Variety.
Related: How Fast & Furious Went From Low-Budget Flick To Box Office Gold
Tire marks visible outside Bob’s Market in Angelino Heights (credit: Google)
Variety spoke to residents in the historic neighborhood, whose Bob’s Market is the fictional Toretto family store, and were told that for many residents it’s not the movie production that’s the problem, but the antisocial and dangerous behavior of fans that are drawn to the area after watching the movies.
Hellen Kim told reporters that the area in front of Bob’s Market is a magnet for people in modified cars with noisy exhausts who cause disruption by revving their engines and performing donuts in the middle of the street. Kim said several racers have crashed into residents’ parked cars then driven off leaving a trail of devastation. And one resident who asked Variety not to use his name claims a driver pulled a gun on him in the middle of the day when he came out of his house asking them to stop creating a disturbance.
However some residents said they were happy for filming to go ahead, explaining that the movie’s producers provide people living in the neighborhood with financial compensation for disruption caused by shooting schedules.