‘Fast And Furious’ Spin-Off With Dwayne Johnson And Jason Statham Arrives In 2019; Shane Black Could Direct
The crackling chemistry betweenDwayne JohnsonandJason StathaminFate of the Furiousis finally paying off. The two actors will be getting their ownFast and Furiousspin-off centered around their characters, Diplomatic Security Service agent Luke Hobbs (Johnson) and former villain Deckard Shaw (Statham).
All of Universal Pictures' recent moves — and Tyrese Gibson’snonsensical Instagram postings— are starting to come together with this news. WithFast and Furious9pushed back to 2020, that leaves room for Universal to switch gears to a Hobbs and Shaw spin-off, which will presumably consist of them flexing their rippling muscles through tight T-shirts and fighting off goons with a baby on their arm.
The starring vehicle for Johnson and Statham will have a script penned byChris Morgan, who has written nearly everyFast and Furiousscript sinceTokyo Drift, and a scheduled release date ofJuly 26, 2019, according toThe Hollywood Reporter. The film remains untitled.
No director has been named yet for the spin-off, butVarietyreports thatThe Nice GuysdirectorShane Blackis one of the directors being eyed to helm the project. Black would be an inspired pick, as the director has a keen understanding of offbeat buddy comedies, which this Hobbs and Shaw spin-off will assuredly be.
Universal has apparently been pondering a spin-off of the two muscleheads since the shooting of this year’sFate of the Furious, with TheWrap’s Umberto Gonzalez reporting thata short taghad been filmed in which Hobbs and Shaw consider going off on their own adventures away from Dominic Toretto’s (Vin Diesel) team — a backdoor pilot for a spin-off, as it were. But sources say that Diesel caught wind of the scene being shot without his knowledge, and ordered it to be cut.
While the unlikely friendship between Johnson and Statham has only been growing, all has not been well in theFastfamily. Talks of this spin-off may have been one of the elements that fueled the Johnson-Diesel"candy ass" saga, whileFast and Furiousco-starTyrese Gibsonhas beenhinting at and bemoaning Johnson’s spin-offon social media for months.
But the spin-off’s biggest affront to theFastfamily is one that hasn’t been said by any of the stars:Justice for Han. Statham’s character Shaw was the main villain ofFurious 7, terrorizing the Toretto crew in retribution for rendering his brother — theFast & Furious 6Big Bad — comatose. Deckard Shaw is revealed to be behind Han’s (Sung Kang) death in Tokyo, a fact that most of the crew seem to have inexplicably forgiven him for by the time he redeems himself inFate of the Furious. Honestly, I could not bring myself to enjoy Shaw’s redemption inFate(baby-protecting fight scene and all!) because of his actions with Han, the true best character in theFast and Furiousfranchise. I will only be on board with this spin-off if it entails Han coming back from the dead and becoming Shaw’s worst nightmare.
The untitledFast and Furiousspin-off is scheduled for aJuly 26, 2019opening.Fast and Furious 9is set forApril 10, 2020.
