Gizmodo first reported Universal’s new Fast & Furious roller coaster, and the project has since been confirmed as Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift at Universal Studios Hollywood. For Bedford readers, the connection is indirect: there is no confirmed link to the Universal United Kingdom Resort, but it is another glimpse of how heavily Universal is leaning on big franchise rides.
What Universal has confirmed
Universal says this will be the park’s first-ever high-speed outdoor roller coaster. The ride is due to open in Summer 2026, and the company says it will use 360-degree rotation in the individual vehicles to create the feeling of drifting cars while they spin along the track at speeds of up to 72 mph. That makes this less of a standard launch coaster and more of a motion-heavy thrill ride built to echo the films’ street-racing energy.
Universal has also said the coaster will sit in the Upper Lot at Universal Studios Hollywood. The ride vehicles are being modelled on cars from the films, including the Dodge Charger, Mazda RX-7, Nissan Skyline GT-R and Toyota Supra. In other words, this is not just a Fast & Furious-branded sign over an ordinary coaster; the cars themselves are part of the story Universal is trying to tell.
Why this matters for Universal fans
Even though this attraction is in California, it matters to Universal watchers on this side of the Atlantic because it shows the sort of high-profile, effects-led coaster tech the company is still willing to put behind a film property. Universal’s wider theme park strategy has increasingly relied on immersive rides that turn familiar brands into headline attractions, and Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift fits that pattern neatly. That does not mean anything about Bedford has been confirmed; it simply shows the standard Universal is setting elsewhere.
The next milestone is straightforward: Universal still lists the coaster as coming in Summer 2026. Until the park announces an opening date or cuts the ribbon, the Bedford relevance remains speculative rather than confirmed. For now, the important point is that Universal has another major Fast & Furious ride in the pipeline, and it is being built as a full-scale thrill attraction rather than a simple themed overlay.
