Locals Plan to Protest Fast 10 Filming Stunts in L.A. Neighborhood: 'Shouldn't Be Allowed' (Report)
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Barry King/Alamy Bob's Market in Los Angeles
The Fast & Furious films have made Los Angeles' Angelino Heights famous as the area where Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) owns Bob's Market and lives, but the real-life residents of the neighborhood have grown tired of the attention the franchise brings day in and day out.
As of Monday, some Angelino Heights residents are planning to protest Friday's shoot for the upcoming sequel Fast X, according to Variety.
FilmLA sent a notice to members of the community that says Fast X will be filming in the neighborhood from 9 a.m. to 2 a.m. Friday in front of the Toretto house, which will include "simulated emergency services activity, aerial photography, wetting down of street and atmospheric smoke," according to Variety.
FilmLA, which is responsible for shooting permits in the city, told Variety Monday that a shooting permit had not been yet been finalized.
"If this film shoot is allowed to go forward in Angelino Heights, or any part of it from F10 Productions (Universal) … we will stage a huge protest and will invite many reporters and news cameras to film us protesting this film shoot all day and night," reads an email obtained by Variety, from a resident to the Los Angeles City Council.
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Universal Pictures Vin Diesel as Dominic Toretto in F9 (2021)
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The email reportedly adds, "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."
Several Angelino Heights residents told Variety they'd experienced negative interactions with street racers inspired by the films who visit the neighborhood and create disruptive noise, even after Los Angeles officials put some bollards in the area.
One resident, Hellen Kim, told Variety that she has witnessed several hit-and-run collisions between cars as a result.
"Someone's going to get killed," she told Variety. "Sooner or later."
Kim's husband, Robert Howard, told Variety that his 90-year-old mother "gets scared at night" due to the loud noise from street racers in the area.
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"There's kids in the neighborhood right on that corner," he added. "It shouldn't be allowed."
Another resident who Variety reported did not want his name used said someone once pointed a gun at him when he asked him to stop running his car during the middle of the day.
"In the middle of the daytime I'm trying to work in my office, somebody's whipping around making all kinds of noise with their car, and I come out and I'm yelling, 'Would you do this in front of your grandma's house?' And some kid's like, 'What did you say to me?' And pulls out a gun and pointed at me," the resident alleged. "I'm standing on my porch and he's on the opposite side of the street. So I wasn't scared for my life. But anytime someone pulls a gun, it's a serious thing."
Universal Pictures did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's request for comment Tuesday.
The Angelino Heights resident who is organizing the protest declined to speak with Variety about their efforts, but the protest is sponsored by advocacy organizations Street Racing Kills and Streets Are for Everyone, according to the outlet.
Both organizations' websites state they were founded in 2014 after each group's founders were personally affected by dangerous driving habits such as street racing.
The Fast X protest comes as the United States Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration issued a report in May that estimated 42,915 people died in motor vehicle traffic crashes in 2021 — a 10.5% increase from 2020's 38,824 fatalities.
Last year's projections stand as the highest number of such fatalities since 2005, according to the NHTSA.
On Aug. 6, Diesel, 55, shared a photo on Instagram of himself on set for Fast X, on which he complimented the production.
"We've come a long way … our crew, our cast, our studio has never stopped reaching higher. Most importantly, you never stopped believing in us," he wrote in the post's caption. "Thank you. Hope to make you proud. All love, Always."
