Fast & Furious 9’s filmmakers have been fined $1,000,000 in damages after an on-set accident reportedly left a stuntman with brain damage.
While filming Fast & Furious 9, in July 2019, Joe Watts, a stuntman, fell 25 feet (8 meters) head-first into the pavement below, breaking his skull. The event happened in the English Warner Brothers studio.
Following their admission of health and safety violations, the Fast & Furious 9 production firm, FF9 Pictures, was fined £800,000 (about $1,000,000) by the Luton Magistrates’ Court last Friday.
The judge stated that Watts was “fortunate to be alive,” according to the BBC story, after a practiced stunt was altered during filming and Watts’ safety line was not checked in between takes.
During filming, the planned shot of Watts being tossed over another performer’s right shoulder was adjusted to actually include Watts being thrown.
Furthermore, Watts’ safety line, which was in place during the first attempt, broke off from his vest during the second shot, causing him to fall and miss the matting. It is said that the wire was not examined in between takes.
“No system for double checking that the link had been properly engaged and tightened” was present in the manufacturing, according to the Health and Safety Executive, which was brought in by the prosecution.
Said to have “not extended the crash matting to mitigate the consequences of an unintentional fall following changes to the set and the sequence of the stunt,” the production is still being criticized.
Watts had worked on several high-profile productions including Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Game of Thrones, and Kingsman: The Golden Circle.
