Fast & Furious Five Starts Pre-Production

HOLLYWOOD, California--To absolutely no one's surprise, pre-production work on the fourth sequel to 2001's The Fast and the Furious is now underway. That's right, Inside Line has learned that NBC Universal and producer Neal Moritz have reached that point in the development of the series' fifth film where they have a script solid enough to order construction of physical elements for the production to begin.

Breaking out the Ouija board and doing some quick best-guess based calculations, that likely means that filming should begin late this coming spring, with the finished movie winding up in theaters early in 2011. Maybe.

So what's the fifth chapter in the Fast and Furious saga going to be about? Well, it could be that in this one Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) and Brian O'Conner (super dreamy Paul Walker) simultaneously hit middle age and spend the next two hours discussing in detail their twin existential crises while sharing a nice bottle of Chianti. Or, more likely, there's a lot of action involving things like giant Paris-To-Dakar race trucks and a train full of exotic cars that flat-out needs hijacking.

After the gob-smacking super-success of 2009's Fast & Furious it's a safe bet that most of the series' regular cast will return for this fifth installment. After all, they like having careers. It's also likely that director Justin Lin, who shepherded the last two installments, will return for the latest episode. No firm title has been settled on yet, so make up your own.

For those of you holding your breath hoping that all the dangling, unanswered questions of character and motivation left over from Fast & Furious would eventually be answered, go ahead and breathe. For our friends over at NBC Universal, congratulations you're going to be making some serious money in a few months — so go ahead and lease that Bentley. And you members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences get ready to finally give this series the love and Oscars it deserves.

Inside Line says: Our coverage starts now and will include everything from car construction to Vin Diesel's prostate health. — Lee Pray, Correspondent