'Fast & Furious 9' Producers Fined $1 Million for Stunt Accident

Stuntman Joe Watts suffered life-changing injuries in an accident on set, leading to a breach of the U.K.’s Health and Safety at Work Act.

FF9 Pictures Limited, a subsidiary of Universal Pictures, has been fined $1 million for breaching the U.K.’s Health and Safety at Work Act after a stunt performer, Joe Watts, was severely injured on the set of 'Fast & Furious 9'.
Watts suffered a fractured skull and traumatic brain injury after falling 25 feet onto a concrete floor when a line on his stunt vest became detached during a fight scene.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that FF9 Pictures failed to address the potential issue of a rope snap or link failure, did not inspect Watts' harness for six months, and did not extend crash matting after changes were made to the stunt sequence.
Watts, who has worked on films like 'Solo: A Star Wars Story' and 'Pokemon: Detective Pikachu', is also suing FF9 Pictures for $1.2 million for personal injury, claiming he will not be able to return to his pre-accident employment.
This incident is one of several on-set accidents that have rocked the entertainment industry in recent years, including the death of a stunt performer on the set of 'The Walking Dead' and the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of 'Rust'.