When reports recently came out that Vin Diesel has picked Indian actress Deepika Padukone to become her leading lady for the sequel of his “XXX” movie shown in 2002, Bollywood fans started speculating whether the action star would also decide to bring the actress to the next installment of the “Fast & Furious” franchise.
The rumors actually have a good leg to stand on since Vin Diesel has recently shown that he likes bringing an actor and director from a previous film to the “Fast & Furious” franchise.
One perfect example is British veteran actress Helen Mirren, whom Vin Diesel co-starred with in his latest movie “The Last Witch Hunter” which hit theaters just a few weeks ago.
Diesel was able to work with Mirren in his latest movie and he seems to like the idea of having her around for “Fast & Furious 8.”
It was also during the filming of “The Last Witch Hunter” when Helen broached to Vin the idea of her joining the “Fast & Furious” franchise. In a subsequent interview, Vin said that Helen should be careful what she wished for because it appears that it would be granted soon.
Diesel said that Helen is on top of his list to join as a new cast member of “Fast & Furious 8,” and he was obviously speaking as one of the franchise producers. He added that all the rest of those who wish to be part of the franchise should fall in line after Helen, indicating his strong preference for the veteran British actress.
He has also brought in Director F. Gary Gray whom he was able to work with during his movie “A Man Apart.”
With that being said, there have been rumors going around lately that Vin Diesel may actually do the same for Deepika Padukone, who is also a good actress in Bollywood movies. Deepika will co-star with Vin in the upcoming movie “Xander Cage Returns,” the sequel to “XXX.”
But it seems that the reports about it are mere speculations at this time, pending the confirmation from the cast members and producers of the “Fast & Furious 8.”
Final trilogy
In a recent interview, Vin Diesel has confirmed that “Fast & Furious 8” will be the first of the final trilogy to conclude the successful movie franchise on a very high note.
Diesel made the confirmation as movie lead actor and producer when he recently guested on “The Tonight’s Show with Jimmy Fallon.”
The actor, who plays Dominic Toretto in the film series, was quoted as saying during the show that three more movies for the trilogy and that will close it. With its $2.3 billion box-office haul for all of the seven movies, it is only fitting to give the franchise a graceful end.
It was also during the show that Diesel confirmed that the setting of “Fast & Furious 8” will be in New York City and not in Los Angeles as some speculations put it.
However, it seems that recent developments appear to have made changes on the previous plan to end the franchise after three more movies.
Start of more spinoffs and prequels
Vin Diesel, in yet another interview, said that “Fast & Furious 8” may be the start of the trilogy to conclude the film franchise, but that does not prevent them from producing and coming out with possible spinoffs and prequels.
While Diesel did not specifically mention who the possible characters will take the limelight in the possible spinoffs and prequels, speculations are rife that it could be Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson’s character Luke Hobbs. It is also possible that the spinoffs may also include the character of Kurt Russell’s Mr. Nobody because it is full of mystery.
There is also the possibility of having a spinoff to feature the Shaw brothers, Owen and Deckard, played by Luke Evans and Jason Statham, respectively, who are obviously big action stars themselves.