Louis Leterrier woke up one morning while on location in Rome, turned on the television set, and was shocked by the report leading the broadcast. Leterrier and his Fast X stunt crew had just completed a spectacular stunt sequence that involved rolling a one-ton ball through the streets of Rome… using far more practical effects than many would expect. But even though the Mayor of Rome had given Leterrier the keys to the city and encouraged them to film wherever they needed to, there was one set of Spanish steps the crew could not use. They were too fragile for a Hollywood close up, prompting the director and his team to recreate the steps on a backlot in London in order to get the footage that they needed.
So imagine Louis Leterrier’s shock when he turned on the news in Rome to find out that the very next day after they’d completed filming, someone drove a car down those same Spanish steps, creating all sorts of damage. The director, replaying this story to CinemaBlend’s official ReelBlend podcast, was very quick to deflect any blame, explaining:
