Local residents of Angelino Heights neighborhood in Los Angeles are fuming at noise and the unsafe conditions created by the filming in the historic location.
- Aug 23, 2022
AceShowbiz - While fans of the "Fast & Furious" franchise would love for the next installment to arrive sooner than later, not so fast to the residents of Angelino Heights neighborhood in Los Angeles. Filming on the upcoming "Fast and Furious 10" a.k.a. "Fast X" has sparked fury among local residents of the area who are complaining about safety issue and noise.
According to Variety, ever since "The Fast and the Furious" premiered in 2001, Angelino Heights has attracted fans of the franchise who are particularly interested in Bob's Market, the store owned by the family of Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) and the character's quaint Victorian house.
But instead of just snapping selfies, die-hard fans of the movie franchise are apparently keen on recreating scenes from the films. Car enthusiasts would "spin out doing donuts at high speeds in front of the store in addition to racing and doing street takeovers throughout the area just west of Downtown," the site reports.
This condition has led to outrage from local residents, who are fed up with the constant noise and unsafe conditions created as the result of the influence the "Fast & Furious" franchise has hand on the neighborhood. Thus, they plan a protest for the "Fast X" shooting, which is expected to take place this Friday, August 26.
A notice of filming from FilmLA indicates that the upcoming installment will shoot on Friday from 9 A.M. to 2 A.M. in front of the Toretto house on Kensington Road, with "simulated emergency services activity, aerial photography, wetting down of street and atmospheric smoke." A shooting permit has not been finalized, but the bulletins were provided to the community by the office.
In an email to Variety, a resident to Los Angeles City Council states, "If this film shoot is allowed to go forward in Angelino Heights, or any part of it from 'F10' Productions (Universal) … we will stage a huge protest and will invite many reporters and news cameras to film us protesting this film shoot all day and night."
They add, "We will hold this protest to honor the 178 people who have been killed by street racers in Los Angeles, and to shame Universal for their callous disregard for this deadly epidemic of street racing their films started and continue to promote."
Further speaking out on the protest, several residents of Angelino Heights explained that their issue with "Fast and Furious" has less to do with the one-day film shoot itself than the impact that the films have on the neighborhood year-round.
Hellen Kim and Robert Howard, a married couple that live close by Bob's Market, expressed their concerns as saying, "Our mom stays with us, she's 90, she gets scared at night with this kind of sound. There's kids in the neighborhood right on that corner. It shouldn't be allowed." Noting that several of the racers have hit or crashed into car and fled after the collision, Hellen added, "Someone's going to get killed. Sooner or later."
Another resident, who refused to be named, claimed that he once had a gun pointed at him by a "Fast & Furious" fan after he asked the fan to stop running his car in the middle of the day. "In the middle of the daytime I'm trying to work in my office, somebody's whipping around making all kinds of noise with their car, and I come out and I'm yelling, 'Would you do this in front of your grandma's house?' And some kid's like, 'What did you say to me?' And pulls out a gun and pointed at me,' the resident recalled. "I'm standing on my porch and he's on the opposite side of the street. So I wasn't scared for my life. But anytime someone pulls a gun, it's a serious thing."
Another resident, Planaria Price, however, defended Universal as she explained that the studio has provided her and other residents with stipends and annoyance fees, which helped her restore several of the homes in the area she owns. Although she agrees that the street racing glorified in the films is dangerous, she believes the issue lies more with Los Angeles government and the need to crack down on street racing in the city.
Universal has not responded to the complaint.
