Universal’sFast and Furious Spin-Offstarring Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham now officially has a director. We reported in February thatDeadpool 2andAtomic BlondedirectorDavid Leitchhad been eyed to take the helm, and now he’s been confirmed, with the officialFast & FuriousTwitter channel welcoming him to the family. With production reportedly slated to begin this fall, it seems everything is coming into place for this currently untitled action thriller.
While promotingJumanji: Welcome to the Junglelast month, Dwayne Johnson teased thatthere will be a lot of surprisesin store for fans in this spin-off. No official story details have been released at this time, but there was originally set to be a post-credit scene at the end of last year’sThe Fate of the Furious, which featured Dwayne Johnson’s Luke Hobbs and Jason Statham’s Deckard Shaw, which was intended to set up this spin-off. There were rumors that Vin Diesel went to the studio and asked for this scene to be removed from the film, and that the studio obliged.
Aside from Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham, no other cast members have been confirmed, although it seems likely that neither Vin Diesel, nor Tyrese Gibson will be appearing in this spin-off, given theirprevious feudswith Dwayne Johnson. Both Vin Diesel and Dwayne Johnson reportedly clashed while filmingThe Fate of the Furious, with Dwayne Johnson posting a cryptic social media post calling out some of his male co-stars, and it was widely believed, and later confirmed, that he was talking about Vin Diesel. The Rock even hinted that he may not work with Vin Diesel again, meaning that we may not see Hobbs inFast & Furious 9, which was pushed from a 2019 date to 2020, or the final franchise installment,Fast & Furious 10, which is still slated for a 2021 release.
As for Tyrese Gibson, the actor feuded with The Rock last year after Johnson’s plans for this spin-off were made public, before Universal delayedFast & Furious 9. Tyrese called out The Rock for “going solo” pleading with the actor to not move forward with this spin-off, but the spin-off is now happening, withFast & Furious 9slated to start filming next year. After having a discussion with Dwayne Johnson’s people, Tyrese pledged never to post about The Rock on social media again, as their feud came to an end. Given The Rock’s cryptic comments about possibly not working with Vin Diesel again, it’s possible that The Rock and Tyrese may not work again either.
David Leitch will work from a script by Chris Morgan, who has written all of theFast & Furiousmovies sinceTokyo Drift. As of now, this spin-offhas the June 08, 2025 date to itself, but it will be situated between Disney’sThe Lion Kinglive-action remake on August 17, 2025 and 20th Century Fox’sThe New Mutantsand Paramount’sDora the Exploreron July 29, 2025. David Leitch’s next film,Deadpool 2will hit theaters on May 18. Take a look at the tweet below fromFast & Furious Twitterthat confirms David Leitch will direct this spin-off.
