Fast and Furious 6 Premiere in London boosts Liverpool’s film city reputation

LIVERPOOL’S appeal as a major movie location will keep revving on, after the world premiere of its latest offering – Fast And Furious 6.

Stars, including Vin Diesel, who has reprised his role as street racer and wanted fugitive Dominic Toretto, attended the screening in London.

He was joined by fellow cast members including Paul Walker, Luke Evans, Michelle Rodriguez, Jordana Brewster, Chris “Ludacris” Bridges and Gina Carano – with some fast cars – at the event in Leicester Square.

Liverpool Film Office bosses today said that the blockbuster, which featured action scenes shot in the city last November, brought a huge boost for the local economy.

It arrived just a couple of months after Keira Knightley and Kenneth Branagh were in the city centre filming Jack Ryan.

Kevin Bell, locations coordinator for the film office, said: “To have two major Hollywood feature films in the city over a short period of time was amazing. It brought a huge amount of local investment and created employment.

“They were filming Fast And Furious 6 for four days – three days in the Birkenhead Tunnel and one day in Water Street.”

Diesel, whose real name is Mark Vincent, appeared visibly moved on the blue carpet by the fans, where he said: “This is by far the biggest and best Fast And Furious premiere I’ve been to. And this is the first time in all of this process since making Fast Six that I can finally exhale.

“There’s a great sense of accomplishment for me and the team. We are here because of the fans. We didn’t think we would make a sixth movie. Of course not!”

Walker, who plays FBI agent Brian O’Conner, joked their increasing ages won’t stop them making the popular movies.

He quipped: “We will be in wheelchairs one day and that’s when we won’t be able to do it any more. But even that won’t stop us racing down the street.”

Welsh star Evans, who portrays the film’s villain Owen Shaw, enjoyed his action role on the streets of London, where the film was shot.

“We are the third film in history to shut down Piccadilly Circus. It takes a lot of logistics – we had two minutes every hour to shut it down. It was quite amazing,” he said.

Filmed in Liverpool and London, Fast And Furious 6 marks the final film in the series for film-maker Justin Lin, after directing four of the films.

The movie will open in cinemas on Friday, May 17.