The producers of “F9,” the ninth instalment of the “Fast & Furious” franchise, have been fined over $1 million in a U.K. court after a stunt performer suffered “life-changing” injuries on set.
FF9 Pictures Limited, a subsidiary of Universal Pictures, received the fine after they pleaded guilty to breaching the U.K.’s Health and Safety at Work Act last week at Luton Magistrates Court just outside London.
Stunt performer Joe Watts, who has worked on projects including “Solo: A Star Wars Story” and “Pokemon: Detective Pikachu,” was severely injured in 2019 when a stunt went wrong and he was thrown 25 feet onto a concrete floor.
Watts suffered a fractured skull and traumatic brain injury which has had a long-term impact on his impairment. An investigation later determined the line on his stunt vest had become detached.
The U.K.’s Health and Safety Executive, who brought the prosecution, said FF9 Pictures had not addressed the possibility of a “rope snap or link failure” during the initial risk assessment and cited other failings including a lack of inspection of Watts’ harness within the last six months as was required and the failure to extend crash matting after the sequence of the stunt was changed.
“Mr Watts’ injuries were life-changing and he could have easily been killed,” said HSE inspector Roxanne Barker. “In stunt work, it is not about preventing a fall but minimising the risk of an injury.”
Hearing the case, District Judge Talwinder Buttar fined the company £800,000 ($1 million) and said Watts was “”fortunate to be alive” after the accident at Warner Brothers Studios in Leavesden.
FF9 were also ordered to pay $18,600 in costs.
Watts is also suing the company for $1.2 million for personal injury.
“He will not be able to return to his pre-accident employment as a stunt man,” his lawsuit states. “If he is able to work, he will suffer a permanent handicap on the labour market.”
