Both Jason Statham and Dwayne Johnson have been throwing men around and taking names for a solid two decades, so when you put the two together you’re likely going to ruin all other action movies for everyone. We can expect a real showstopper of muscles and testosterone in their upcoming FAST AND FURIOUS spinoff movie, HOBBS AND SHAW, but Statham believes that with David Leitch behind the camera the movie will go beyond the level of awesomeness we’re expecting.
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Statham was speaking with Collider on the press tour for THE MEG when he was asked a few questions about the highly-anticipated action flick. He spoke a bit about Leitch, gushing over his movie ATOMIC BLONDE, and said he believes we can expect that same level of grounded action in HOBBS AND SHAW.
I think Dave Leitch’s taste is a little more grounded and a little darker. If you see Atomic Blonde, and it is just superb, his taste is definitely in a world that is sort of how you described it. I think he’s looking to do something that doesn’t look exactly like a Fast movie. Although it’s the Fast characters, he’s trying to do his own thing with it and give it a real sense of credibility. I think Dave is going to get this one gritty, and real, and fucking hardcore.
Statham continued, reminiscing about the time Leitch was a stuntman on his movie THE MECHANIC, wherein Statham threw his soon-to-be director out a window, resulting in him getting hit by a bus. Though HOBBS will have plenty of window smashing of its own, Statham said the movie won’t take itself too seriously, especially with Helen Mirren possibly returning as Shaw’s mother from FATE OF THE FURIOUS.
We’re trying to do something that isn’t so goofy though. I know the last time she slapped me around the face and we got this little … We don’t want to take it too seriously. I’m not the director so I’m not the one controlling the tone of the movie but we want to have some meaningful stuff in it as well as the fun. At the end of the day, we want to have the laughs. We want to tear each other apart. We want to enjoy it. This has to be a ride. I guess you’ve got to have the whole package.
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With the FAST movies, we have gotten to see some pretty insane stunts, most involving high-speed vehicles, but with HOBBS AND SHAW, there's room for, as Statham says, grittier action. You have two of the biggest action stars ever in your movie, so you need to utilize them and their talents in ways we've never seen. Leitch is an excellent craftsman of fight scenes, so with him at the helm, I can't help concur with Statham's words: This movie will fucking hardcore.
HOBBS AND SHAW is set for July 26, 2019