Vin Diesel Calls On Dwayne Johnson To Resume 'Fast And The Furious' Franchise

Vin Diesel has made a public plea to Dwayne Johnson to rejoin the “Fast and the Furious” franchise as it prepares for its 10th installment.

What Happened: In a letter posted on his Instagram page, the 54-year-old Diesel addressed “my little brother Dwayne” (Johnson is 49) by insisting "the time has come" for him to return to his Luke Hobbs character in the franchise, where he last work in 2017’s “The Fate of the Furious.”

“The world awaits the finale of Fast 10,” Diesel wrote. “As you know, my children refer to you as Uncle Dwayne in my house. There is not a holiday that goes by that they and you don’t send well wishes... but the time has come. Legacy awaits.

“I told you years ago that I was going to fulfill my promise to Pablo,” Diesel continued, referring to the late Paul Walker, their co-star in the franchise. “I swore that we would reach and manifest the best Fast in the finale that is 10!”

Diesel added that no other actor could play the Hobbs role and he urged Johnson to “rise to the occasion and fulfill your destiny.”

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Why It Happened: According to USA Today, Diesel and Johnson had a falling out during the production of “The Fate of the Furious,” with the latter putting up a social media post that many perceived as a slam against Diesel.

“Some conduct themselves as stand up men and true professionals, while others don't,” Johnson wrote. “When you watch this movie next April and it seems like I’m not acting in some of these scenes and my blood is legit boiling — you're right.”

Diesel responded on social media by promising his followers, “I will tell you everything, everything.”

Johnson played the Hobbs character one more time in the 2019 spinoff film “Hobbes & Shaw” but was absent from this year’s release of “F9.” Production hasn't begun on the 10th film that Diesel cited; the franchise is produced and released by Comcast's CMCSA Universal Pictures.

Diesel’s plea follows up a June interview with Diesel told Men's Health where he insisted his work as a producer on the “Fast & Furious” resulted in a “tough love” strategy that sparked the conflict with Johnson.

"It was a tough character to embody, the Hobbs character," he said. "My approach at the time was a lot of tough love to assist in getting that performance where it needed to be."

However, Johnson insisted in a Hollywood Reporter interview in July that he's not coming back, noting that he will "wish them the best of luck on Fast 10 and Fast 11 and the rest of the Fast & Furious movies they do that will be without me."

Photo: Vin Diesel and Dwayne Johnson in "The Fate of the Furious," courtesy of Universal Pictures.