Vin Diesel Cries for Paul Walker at Cannes Fast Screening

Vin Diesel wasn’t planning to cry in front of a sold-out crowd at the Cannes Film Festival. But then the credits rolled on The Fast and the Furious, and 25 years of memories — and grief — came flooding back all at once.

The actor stood at the microphone inside the Grand Lumière Theatre just after midnight on May 13, having just watched himself and his late best friend Paul Walker fall into a brotherhood on the big screen for the very first time. And he just couldn’t hold it together.

“I can’t even believe you want to see me fucking cry,” Diesel told the crowd, visibly emotional.

Then came the words that had the entire theater reaching for tissues: “I pray that in your life, you can have a brother like Paul.”

A Night 25 Years in the Making

Cannes selected The Fast and the Furious for a special midnight screening to celebrate the franchise’s 25th anniversary — a fitting tribute to a movie that, when it opened in the summer of 2001, nobody could have predicted would launch one of Hollywood’s most profitable franchises ever. Directed by Rob Cohen and co-written by David Ayer, the original film grossed $207 million worldwide on a reported $38 million budget. What followed was 11 films, a spinoff, and more than $7 billion at the global box office.

Diesel arrived at the Palais des Festivals at 11:55 p.m., stepping out of his car to walk the red carpet in a diamond-encrusted black blazer with “Fast Forever” — the name of the upcoming franchise finale — embroidered on the back. He signed autographs, struck poses for the wall of photographers, and worked the crowd on the Croisette with the energy of someone who knew exactly what the night meant. Joining him were costars Michelle Rodriguez and Jordana Brewster, franchise producer Neal H. Moritz, and NBCUniversal Entertainment chairman Donna Langley.

And then there was Meadow Walker.

Paul Walker’s 27-year-old daughter walked the red carpet alongside the cast, and her presence made the entire night feel like something more than just an anniversary celebration. It felt like a reunion with someone who couldn’t be there.

“The Best One’s Still in the Can”

Before the screening began, Diesel took the mic to address the packed house — and stayed on it for a while. He joked with Cannes director Thierry Frémaux about the unexpectedly massive crowd: “Thierry, where did you get everyone? I’ve never seen a midnight screening like this in my whole life. It’s not like this movie hasn’t been out for a minute.”

He recalled something Frémaux had told him over lunch earlier that day — that Diesel had first come to Cannes 31 years ago as the writer, director, and star of his 1995 short film Multi-Facial, carrying a laundry bag as a suitcase, unknown to the world. “You said, ‘The reason why it’s so special that you’re here now is because, in my mind, you, Vin, were born in Cannes,’” Diesel recounted.

The crowd shouted “we love you” back at him. He got laughs. He got applause. At one point, nearing 12:30 a.m. and aware he was monopolizing the mic, he cracked: “Fuck the film. I’m only here once in my whole life.”

But when he turned to talking about Paul, the room shifted.

“It wasn’t on the script at first that this blond-haired, blue-eyed guy would be a brother to me,” Diesel said. He described how, after every premiere, Walker would quietly pull him aside. “After every premiere, he’d sit with me — no one else could be around. He just would walk off with me and whisper into my ear, ‘the best one’s still in the can.’”

“It’s so hard for me to watch it,” Diesel continued, “because there’s so many moments in this movie that you see, that I see differently. The scene that you see, I see the moment Pablo told me he had a 1-year-old daughter.”

That daughter was sitting in the theater with him.

Meadow Walker and a Moment That Stopped the Room

After the film ended, Diesel pulled Meadow close and shared what she had told him earlier in the day. “She said, ‘I’m 27, and I’m watching this film that my father made at 27,’ and I thought, ‘How profound.’”

He wiped a tear from her face. “Meadow has been such a source of strength,” he told the crowd. “And I know he’d be so proud of you.”

Meadow briefly addressed the audience as well, saying the cast had been a “source of strength” for her in the years since her father’s death. Paul Walker died in November 2013 at age 40 in a car accident, before he could finish filming Furious 7. That film was completed using archival footage and his brothers Caleb and Cody as body doubles, and released in 2015 with the Charlie Puth and Wiz Khalifa tribute “See You Again.”

Rodriguez and Brewster were right there with them, all of them wiping tears as the sold-out audience rose for a four-minute standing ovation.

The bond between Diesel and Meadow is one that’s been quietly documented for years. Diesel is her godfather, and the two have remained close since Paul’s death. He and his partner Paloma Jiménez even named their youngest daughter Pauline in tribute to his late costar. Meadow, for her part, runs the Paul Walker Foundation in her father’s honor and made a cameo appearance in 2023’s Fast X.

One More Ride — and Brian O’Conner Is Coming Back

The night wasn’t only about looking back. Diesel made clear that the past is fuel for what’s coming next.

“The only reason why we’re making the finale of Fast for 2028 is because of each and every one of you that has given us your hearts and your loyalty,” he told the crowd. “Each and every one of you that has felt like you were a part of our family — you make us have to continue. You make us want to make you all proud. What you’re gonna watch tonight is the beginning of one word, and that word is love.”

Fast Forever, the planned franchise closer, is scheduled to hit theaters on March 17, 2028. Louis Leterrier, who directed Fast X, is set to return, with Michael Lesslie aboard as screenwriter. And Diesel has already hinted at what fans most want to hear: Brian O’Conner will be part of the ending. At Fuel Fest in June 2025, he revealed his three conditions for making the finale — bringing the story back to L.A., returning to street racing culture, and reuniting Dom with Brian.

How exactly that reunion happens — whether through archival footage, the Walker brothers, or something else entirely — remains one of the most anticipated questions in the franchise’s history.

But on this night in Cannes, with Meadow Walker beside him and Paul’s face on the screen, Vin Diesel wasn’t thinking about box office or release dates. He was thinking about a blond-haired guy who used to whisper in his ear after every premiere and tell him the best was still to come.