Vin Diesel is in New York doing press for the pretty cool looking Babylon A.D. and he shared an interesting bit of news with ComingSoon.net regarding another upcoming project. He announced he’ll be directing a twenty minute prequel to next year’s Fast and Furious, which itself is the third sequel to The Fast and the Furious. Technically, the twenty minute short will also be a sequel to the 2001 original, so I’ve decided to refer to it henceforth as a sprequel.

The untitled short will star Diesel and Michelle Rodriguez, both reprising their roles from the first film, as well as Sung Kang from The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift. Rodriguez’ drivers license is still suspended from her drunken bumper-car adventures in Hawaii a couple years ago, so Danica Patrick will be standing in for her during the many driving scenes. That’s not true, but I’m paid by the word. I’m sorry, that’s also a lie. Diesel didn’t specify in which medium the sprequel would premiere… it could appear as an online exclusive, an extra feature on a DVD, or even as a pre-feature bonus in theaters.

This isn’t Diesel’s first time in the director’s chair. He wrote and directed the film Strays, which reportedly caught Steven Spielberg’s eye and led to his casting in Saving Private Ryan.

Fast and Furious opens June 5, 2009.