It’s official! Dominic Toretto and the rest of the gang, minus the late Paul Walker, will be back for one final trilogy before ending the Fast and the Furious franchise and the confirmation came from Vin Diesel himself.
On his Facebook account, Vin Diesel announced on September 25 that Universal Pictures has approved that the franchise run three more movies before its epic last ride. This means the whole franchise will have 10 movies in total.
The “Chronicles of Riddick” star addressed the fans of the Fast and Furious saga when he delivered the news. He thanked the fans who has been with him every step of the way.
The “Guardians of the Galaxy” actor also sent out his gratitude to Universal Pictures who has been supportive of him and the franchise since the beginning. In his post, Diesel described Universal as his family who has been so trusting of his vision.
The car action film franchise has spawned seven movies over the past 14 years. Short films and video games have also been created in reference to the franchise. Now fans can expect “Fast & Furious 8,” “Fast & Furious 9,” and “Fast & Furious 10” to be added on the list.
During this year’s Universal ComicCon in Las Vegas, Diesel himself made the announcement that the eight installment to the franchise is slated to be released on theaters on April 14, 2017.
The 48-year-old actor stated that the upcoming sequel will take place in New York. Chris Morgan has been tapped to write his sixth script for the franchise while Neal H. Moritz will return as producer.
Dwayne Johnson officially confirmed his involvement in the eighth film. The former WWE wrestler plays DSS agent Luke Hobbs. “Fast & Furious 7” baddie Jason Statham has also confirmed that he will be reprising his role as Deckard Shaw. Michelle Rodriguez, who plays Letty Ortiz-Toretto, also confirmed her participation.
Although other long-time cast members such as Tyrese Gibson, Chris Bridges, and Jordana Brewster hasn’t given a word about their involvement, it is expected that these three actors will reprise their roles as Roman Pearce, Tej Parker, and Mia O’Connor, respectively.
Everyone thought that “Fast & Furious 8” would be the closing film for the franchise especially when Vin stated that “Fast & Furious 7” was for Paul and “Fast 8” is from Paul. Obviously, no one knew how ambitious Diesel could get with the franchise.
According to The Verge, the untimely death of Paul Walker led the latest film to suffer a string of difficulties before its world premiere. However, it is with Walker’s demise that “Fast & Furious 7,” released last April, went on to become the fifth highest-grossing movie of all time.
The 40-year-old actor died alongside his pal Roger Rodas in a single-vehicle collision on November 30, 2013. He was in the middle of filming “Fast & Furious 7” when the tragedy happened. Filmmakers had to resort to using CGI and tapping Walker’s brothers to be his double for the remaining scenes.
The news comes as a big surprise because this means that the franchise could even last two decades, but things are always easier said than done. According to reports, Universal is having a hard time finding a director for “Fast & Furious 8.” James Wan, who directed “Fast & Furious 7,” won’t be returning as he will focus on the sequel to his horror flick “The Conjuring.”
Rumors that Justin Lin, who had directed three movies under the franchise, was tapped to take the director’s seat for the upcoming film were rife along the confirmation of the eighth film, but according to The Hollywood Reporter, Lin had also turned down the directorial job.
Reports say that the studio tried to bring back Lin by offering him a huge raise, but he declined the offer because he has his hands full with “Star Trek Beyond.”