In a strong show of confidence in the franchise, Universal has scheduled release dates for a ninth and tenth Fast And Furious film.
Franchise star Vin Diesel broke the news via his Instagram that in addition to the already scheduled Fast 8 hitting theaters April 14, 2017, we’ll be seeing 9 and 10 at two year intervals after that. And that 2021 date for Fast And Furious 10 marks the furthest publicly announced release date for any movie as of right now.
It should come as no surprise that Universal is wanting to continue the with franchise. It’s last several installments have done strong box office, with Furious 7 pulling in an impressive $1.5 billion at the worldwide box office last year. Currently, the studio doesn’t have much else in the ways of active franchise tentpoles right now, so the Fast And Furious films are a much needed source of revenue while Universal tries to jump start their Classic Monsters interconnected cinematic universe. Universal is also exploring the idea of some Fast And Furious spinoff films.
The tagline of “2 decades, 10 films, 1 saga” confirms that the upcoming Fast 8 will be the first in a trilogy of films that will wrap up the franchise. How connected the storylines between these three films will be remains to be seen, but given that the audience has already followed them through some rather twisty turns they took with their own chronology – i.e., Parts 4, 5 and 6 happening before the third film, Tokyo Drift – that I don’t think there chould be any narrative trick that they couldn’t throw at the audience and get away with.
Currently, Straight Outta Compton director F. Gary Gray is gearing up for the start of production on Fast 8, which is expected to be in front of cameras soon. Joining Diesel in the film will be returning franchise regulars Michelle Rodriguez, Jordana Brewster, Tyrese Gibson, Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, Elsa Pataky and Lucas Black. More recent additions to the franchise Jason Statham, Dwayne Johnson and Kurt Russell are also expected to return.
Tom Stroud liked this on Facebook.