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The Fate Of The Franchise: The Rock & Jason Statham May Really Get 'Fast & Furious' Spinoff
By
Ben Yakas
Published Apr 21, 2017
Modified Apr 21, 2017
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Universal
By
Ben Yakas
Published Apr 21, 2017
Modified Apr 21, 2017
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The Fast And The Furious was essentially a thinly-disguised remake of Point Break whose sequels were showcases for rappers-turned-actors (Ludacris), models-turned-actors (Tyrese Gibson), and more rappers-turned-actors (Lil Bow Wow). But the saga got a shot of "franchise viagra" when it brought The Rock in as an adversary-turned-ally in Fast 5. Jason Statham was a similar shot of bald adrenaline to the series in Furious 7 (ok, technically speaking, he appears in the mid-credits scene at the end of Fast & Furious 6 but let's not split hairs here, because none of these people have any hair to split). And now, you better hide your baby oil, because the powers that be are seriously considering a spin-off featuring the two.
Deadline reports that everything is in the early stages still (ie, there is no commitment, or script, or "plan" yet), but Universal is keen on the idea of taking The Rock's U.S. Diplomatic Security Agent Luke Hobbs and Statham's Deckard Shaw and depositing them into their own spin-off film, in order to broaden the Fast & Furious universe (and give them some time before they have to figure out what the hell stunts they can pull off in Fast 9).
Variety offers a few more details: in addition to Hobbs and Shaw, whose cackling chemistry was one of the highlights of The Fate Of The Furious, the studio is also interested in bringing Charlize Theron's Cipher along with them to the spin-off. They write, "While the spin-off is in very early stages, the concept would be Johnson and Statham teaming up to go after Theron’s character." Chris Morgan, who has written every Fast movie since Tokyo Drift, would pen the script.
As we wrote in our recent review of The Fate Of The Furious, Statham and The Rock steal the show, with a dialogue ratio of one-liners to exposition approximately at 1:1. The bizarre rivalry/friendship that grows between The Rock and Statham in that film is electric in the same way that the relationship between The Rock and Diesel was in Fast 5, when any given scene could end with them punching or kissing each other. While Diesel and The Rock had barely any scenes together in the film (their behind-the-scenes feud is already the stuff of Hollywood legend), The Rock/Statham made up for it with their comedic timing, to the point where they both stared cracking up after trading vicious insults at one point.
There are a couple of issues to be dealt with though, like the fact that Fate never adequately reconciled the Family's sudden embrace of Statham's character with the fact that Shaw waged a one-man war on them in the previous movie and, oh yeah, FRICKIN' KILLED HAN, ONE OF THE BEST CHARACTERS IN THE SERIES. (Then again, we may be dealing with another resurrection in the Fast 9, so perhaps there is a plan.)
Also, there's the pesky matter of Vin Diesel, a producer of the Fast franchise who doesn't take kindly to other bald men outshining him—or so it seems from the aforementioned feud, and the fact that Diesel allegedly lost his shit when he learned that another producer on the film approved a mid-credits scene featuring The Rock and Statham that could have been used to launch this spin-off. Diesel reportedly had that scene cut from the final film.
Anyway, Universal would be leaving money on the table by not doing this spin-off featuring the two most popular characters of the series at this point. And considering that we have at least two more regular Fast movies to come, maybe Morgan and Diesel could use a little more time to sketch out a story or two that isn't filled with plot holes (Why didn't Dom tell Letty or the rest of the Fam about Cipher's blackmail? How can cars not be harmed in a nuclear explosion??). After all, you probably need to have some sort of story to justify sending cars into space.
Tagged
jason statham
movies
the fast and the furious
the fate of the furious
the rock
vin diesel
Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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