The producers of the ninth installment in the Fast and the Furiousfranchise, titled F9: The Fast Saga, have accepted responsibility for an incident that resulted in severe injuries for a stunt performer.
Joe Watts, an experienced stunt performer who had previously worked on high-budget films such as Solo: A Star Wars Storyand Pokemon: Detective Pikachu, was engaged in a fight scene rehearsal at Leavesden Studios in 2019. During the rehearsal, he was standing in for Vin Diesel when he was thrown from a balcony, plummeting more than 20 feet onto a concrete floor.
It is alleged that a safety wire, which was intended to prevent Watts from falling, malfunctioned, and due to a deviation from the initial rehearsal, he missed the safety mat.
As a result of the accident, Watts suffered a fractured skull, traumatic brain injury, psychiatric injury, and shoulder damage. He remained in a coma for five days following the incident.
According to his legal representatives, he now grapples with a range of cognitive and physical challenges that necessitate specialized support and therapies. His injuries have been described as "life changing."