Taylor Sheridan and 'The Accountant 2' Director Team Up for 'F.A.S.T.'
Story by Matt Mahler
The Accountant 2 is hitting theaters soon (on April 25, to be exact), and action fans are very excited. There's certainly a connecting Venn diagram between those fans and viewers of
Taylor Sheridan's sprawling array of TV series, from
Tulsa King and
Special Ops: Lioness, to
Yellowstone and
1923, which recently ended its second season. That Venn diagram is about to expand, with
The Accountant director Gavin O'Connor and writer Taylor Sheridan teaming up to tackle an intense action thriller focused on the CIA, the DEA, Baltimore, and the Middle East. It's a lot to cover, but we trust that Sheridan hasn't bitten off more than he can chew in the upcoming Warner Bros. thriller,
F.A.S.T.
While the project was originally announced in 2018, it made headlines recently when it was announced that actor
Chris Pratt had left the project (to be replaced by Brandon Sklenar, according to some insiders).
F.A.S.T. was meant to enter into production a while ago, but Taylor Sheridan was originally sidetracked by the opportunity to direct Angelina Jolie's 2021 film
Those Who Wish Me Dead, and he, of course, had a dozen TV series to juggle at the time, as well. With
Yellowstone over and
1923 Season 2 having ended, now might be the perfect time to produce
F.A.S.T.
Back in 2019, the script was apparently leaked in some capacity and got into the hands of
Script Shadow, which reviewed the script (and correctly predicted that Pratt was leaving the project all the way back then). While the screenplay will obviously have changed in the six years since it was reviewed, Script Shadow nonetheless gives us a hearty look into the idea and structure of the thing. They begin to describe the script this way:
"Kyle is a former delta force operator in the Middle East. But ever since he’s been back in Baltimore, he can barely make ends meet. His wife and two kids are tired of living in a garbage tract house. If something doesn’t change soon, he’s not sure he’ll be able to keep it together. One day while bringing his kids home from school, Kyle spots two skinheads – who live on his block no less – carrying his TV and furniture back to their house. Kyle has his kids wait at home then goes over to get his effing stuff back. As often happens with skinheads, things escalate, and within seconds, Kyle’s killed both of them.
"Kyle calls his old commander, Sheel, who now works for the DEA, and Sheel comes over to help him clean up the mess. They learn that the skinheads were drug dealers in the area. In a roundabout way, they just helped the community.
"This gives Sheel an idea. You see, it’s impossible to get anything done at the DEA. There’s a thousand miles of politics and red tape. So what if you just… didn’t have to worry about that? In the Middle East, the CIA used to run a program called “F.A.S.T.” that didn’t have any laws. If you wanted to take the bad guys out, you just went to their house and did it. Sheel wants to do the same thing, but for drugs. And he wants Kyle to run it. The upside is that Kyle gets any money he finds at the houses.
"There are rules, though. You can’t kill anyone. You seize drugs and money and then leave. That’s going to require a very skilled team, Kyle says. “You can use anyone you want,” Sheel replies. Kyle gets some of his best men back together and, after carefully prepping their plan, they begin their operation."
Taylor Sheridan Has Grown a Lot Since 2018
When Sheridan wrote the script for
F.A.S.T. in 2019, he was a successful scriptwriter, with
Sicario,
Hell or High Water, and
Wind River under his belt. But he was far from the franchise kingpin he is today.
F.A.S.T. was written just as
Yellowstone was debuting, and since then, Sheridan has developed a TV empire with that show (and its whole universe, with
1883, 1923, and the upcoming show
The Madison),
The Mayor of Kingstown, Tulsa King, Lawmen: Bass Reeves, Lioness, and
Landman.
With six years of experience and more than six hit TV shows under his belt since 2019, it's safe to say that the script for
F.A.S.T. will change considerably, especially if the intended cast has changed a lot. Nonetheless, as long as Sheridan's name is attached to it, there will undoubtedly be an audience. And if
The Accountant 2 hits with audiences like the first film, then director Gavin O'Connor's name will warrant a larger budget, and
F.A.S.T. may become a cinematic epic like we haven't seen before in Sheridan's filmmography. Only time will tell, but suffice it to say, it will be a hoot to see how the
Yellowstone scribe takes on the CIA and DEA in this high-profile film. In the meantime, you can watch
1923, Yellowstone, Landman, and other Sheridan shows on Paramount+.
