Fast and Furious 9: Vin Diesel and John Cena enjoyed ‘destroying’ Edinburgh in latest film

Hollywood star John Cena said it was “fun” to “destroy” Edinburgh while filming scenes for the latest installment in the Fast & Furious film franchise.
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The F9: The Fast Saga cast and crew descended on the Capital for 19 days in September 2019, capturing footage in 11 different city centre locations.

It is thought that Edinburgh locations including Waterloo Place, George Street, Cockburn Street, Victoria Street, the Royal Mile, Melville Street and the Museum of Scotland will feature in the film.

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Speaking to BBC Scotland's The Edit, the former WWE wrestler praised the Scottish the city’s “beautiful buildings”.

“It's a very definable city,” he explained, “but it’s also a great landscape to say 'yeah let's destroy some of this, this would be fun'.

"It's better than just your typical landscape of buildings which are all identical or all glass and you can't tell the distinction from one to the next.

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"It really shows the dedication to Fast and Furious to take something that is wonderfully beautiful and hundreds of years old - if not older - and just destroy it,” he added.

Hollywood star John Cena said it was “fun” to “destroy” Edinburgh while filming scenes for the latest installment in the Fast & Furious film franchise.Hollywood star John Cena said it was “fun” to “destroy” Edinburgh while filming scenes for the latest installment in the Fast & Furious film franchise.
Hollywood star John Cena said it was “fun” to “destroy” Edinburgh while filming scenes for the latest installment in the Fast & Furious film franchise.
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"The only thing that broke my heart in Edinburgh and I saw this first hand - they wrecked a $250,000 limited edition Jaguar in front of my eyes.

"I couldn't scream out loud because I was on camera but a piece of me was heavily hurt to see that jag just get totalled.

"That just goes to show that Fast keeps its roots to car culture - it wants to show these unbelievable rides. Something has to get sacrificed but that was a tough day."

Cena, and co-star Vin Diesel - who play brothers Jakob and Dom in the franchise - spent weeks in Edinburgh shooting the film’s action-packed climax.

The F9: The Fast Saga cast and crew descended on the Capital for 19 days in September 2019, capturing footage in 11 different city centre locations.The F9: The Fast Saga cast and crew descended on the Capital for 19 days in September 2019, capturing footage in 11 different city centre locations.
The F9: The Fast Saga cast and crew descended on the Capital for 19 days in September 2019, capturing footage in 11 different city centre locations.
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Diesel told the BBC: "As an actor to be able to create fight sequences with someone who has spent their life mastering combat entertainment for wrestling - it's a luxury. I think the film benefits from that.

"There's a showdown that happens in Scotland, we filmed it there. Dom and Jacob's relationship comes to a head right there - you'll see it in the movie.

“I had a great time filming in Scotland. I love Scotland, clearly."

The Fast & Furious franchise, including the spin-off Hobbs and Shaw, has earned more than $6 billion at the box office, making use of stunning locations around the world - including California, Mexico and Abu Dhabi in the UAE.

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Director Justin Lin described how Edinburgh was "meant to be" for the latest installment.

"I had never had it happen where I had something in my head and then when I landed somewhere - the whole city already existed.

"It really was about elevation - I wanted to do something with the zip line with the brothers and obstacles through buildings.

"The energy of the city was great - when we were shooting even though we were blocking traffic and making things hard for the citizens of Edinburgh, everyone just felt positive and it really did affect us when we were shooting the scenes.

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"I feel like it is so special - in filmmaking those are special moments."

The interview will be shown on The Edit, on the BBC Scotland channel at 7:15pm on Saturday.

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