Dwayne Johnson likes to keep himself pretty busy, and one of his many upcoming projects is the first spin-off of the FAST & FURIOUS franchise which is to be centered around Dwayne Johnson's Luke Hobbs and Jason Statham's Deckard Shaw. We still don't know exactly how the spin-off will differ from the main saga, but you can be sure that we're in for some over-the-top action, knock-out brawls, and an excess of shimmering flesh. Dwayne Johnson recently spoke with Entertainment Weekly to drop a few teases about the spin-off, revealing that he's been in conversations with the studio about a potential spin-off since the release of FAST & FURIOUS 6, but it wasn't until this year's THE FATE OF THE FURIOUS that it was decided that the spin-off would feature Johnson and Statham.
It’s been a challenging process because I feel like my intention from day one, when I first joined the cast, was to hopefully come in, have fun, and create a character that people will hopefully like and try to elevate the franchise. But in the process of elevating the franchise, I have always thought that in order for this to have real longevity and legs, we should spin out and create characters that can live on their own.
FAST & FURIOUS franchise veteran Chris Morgan is currently writing the script, and Johnson teased that "We've got a lot of surprises," also adding that some "big stars" have been circling the spin-off.
Although it's certainly exciting to see the series grow beyond the core saga, especially with two fan-favourite characters, not everyone was pleased by the choice to move forward, which meant delaying the ninth FAST & FURIOUS film. Tyrese Gibson, who plays Roman Pearce in the series, took to Instagram with some harsh words for Dwayne Johnson, even threatening that he wouldn't appear in the ninth film if Johnson did. Although Gibson later buried his beef with Johnson, it will be interesting to see how well they get along together once production on FAST & FURIOUS 9 gets underway. "At the end of the day, the only thing I want to do is make a great movie for the fans," Johnson said. "I never ever get wrapped up in the sludge of the bulls— that can be connected at times to a franchise. So I never get dragged into it. I never respond to any of that."
The FAST & FURIOUS spin-off will hit theaters on July 26, 2019, with the ninth installment of the main saga set for an April 10, 2020 release.