It’s official — Universal Studios is going forward with a new Fast and Furious . It was a little up in the air whether or not Universal would go forward without Brian O’Conner, who was portrayed by the late Paul Walker. This was despite the fact that O’Conner drove off into the sunset, which was a happier ending than what Walker had after his fatal car accident.
After Universal’s Fast & Furious 7 exceeded expectations at the box office, and broke records, there was a buzz that the franchise would continue, but nothing was ever said about the plans of going forward. Now, according to E! , Fast and Furious’ most prominent champion, Vin Diesel, has confirmed that we’re getting more of the gang.
That’s not all — not only are we getting a Fast 8, which is what the new film is dubbed, dropping the “Furious” part of the saga, but we’re getting three brand new movies that will see “the familia” through to 2021.
The “Fast and Furious” franchise will be getting a 9th and 10th chapter https://t.co/kzecfXcEnZ pic.twitter.com/HeRKyqZPf6
— CNN (@CNN) February 3, 2016
Back in October, Diesel hinted at the title change.
“A lot of people are thinking ‘F8,’ I just get lazy and say Fast 8 . I don’t know if the official title’s come out yet. It’s never the official title. You have to understand. When you talk about titles and you talk about The Fast and the Furious the first movie all through production the back of my chair said ‘Red Line.’ This is like, this is par for the course for the ‘ Fast ‘ franchise. We never know what the title is officially.”
As the Inquisitr reported , Fast 8 is set for an April 14, 2017, release. Now, we have release dates for the two additional films, making this a new chapter, and a trilogy that will continue with the franchise. Fast 9 will come out on April 19, 2019, and Fast 10 will hit theaters on April 2, 2022. It’s obvious to see that Universal is comfortable with opening in April, given how well the last film did.
Fast and Furious 9 and 10 release dates revealed pic.twitter.com/jPmH3XO7bX
— Film Hype (@FilmHyp) February 3, 2016
A lot of curiosity was around Paul Walker’s character, and how Universal managed to bring the innovative technology to recreate the character, using old footage, and Walker’s brothers Cody and Caleb as stand-ins.
Although Walker’s character saw a happy ending, the latest report suggested that the character will have a presence in the film. Now, we don’t know if Universal will go back to the chopping block and use old footage and have a Walker brother stand in for the character, or if the character of Brian will be central to the plot, and will just be used as a storytelling device. Either way, it looks like Universal is willing to bank on Walker’s legacy for some serious box office buzz.
Cast member Michelle Rodriguez said to E! back in October about the potential of more Fast and Furious films.
“We need a good reason to move on after Paul [Walker] and being that this is a global franchise now, it’s not just the American baby, it’s important that we consider moving on and take it seriously.
“But for us as a cast, I think we need a reason and it needs to have heart, so hopefully we’ll find it, you know? And somebody who’s passionate about directing it—I think that’s the most important thing is finding a good director.”
In a statement by Gary Gray, who is directing the next installment, he said the following.
“I could not have asked for better partners than Vin Diesel, Neal H. Moritz, & the Universal Studios Entertainment family,. Together we are excited to bring you the next chapter in the Fast & Furious saga. #?FastFamily.”
Are you ready for five more years of the Fast and Furious gang?
[Photo by Universal]