According Fast & Furious producer and star Vin Diesel, the franchise will expand its focus with a series of spinoffs focusing on individual characters.
“It’s a very rich property,” Diesel told Variety, “And we’re committed to treating it with a lot of class.”
What? Starting when?
There’s no denying the success of the most recent movie, which hauled in more money than the kind of heist where two Dodge Challengers steal an entire bank vault. A masterful confection of explosions, meaningful glances, and dialogue so wooden you could drive a nail through it, Furious 7 made over $1 billion dollars—more than a third of that in emerging markets like China.
But that’s not enough for Universal, the studio behind the F&F juggernaut. Diesel has indicated a desire to appear in three more movies in the series; the studio, of course, is open to more. It’d like to see other characters getting their own storylines, a la the Marvel superhero series.
“It’s an ensemble cast,” Universal Pictures Chairman Donna Langley said, “And there’s room to bring characters in and out.”
“You can’t keep having every movie have bigger and bigger stunts forever and ever and ever,” said Jeff Shell, chairman of Universal Filmed Entertainment Group, “Eventually you have to really focus on the story.”
What? Again, starting when?
There’s no word as to when or with whom we’ll see Fast & Furious spin off a standalone movie. A solid bet would be a vehicle to carry Dwayne Johnston’s literally colossal on-screen presence as agent Luke Hobbs.
The eighth movie in the franchise is currently set to ruin New Yorkers’ lives, then explode onto the screen with all the subtlety of a diamond-plate floorboard falling off at speed. Most recently, Straight Outta Compton director F. Gary Gray joined the team, and there’s the promise that Fast 8 or 8 Furious People or Octo-Fury or whatever it’s called will be gritty and realistic.
What? Starting when?