Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham will star in a Fast and the Furious spin-off film that was given a 2019 release, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
This news comes shortly after it was announced that the ninth installment of the Fast and the Furious chapter will be postponed a year.
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With Fast 9 set to be released in 2020, Universal gave the spin-off a July 26, 2019 release date.
Chris Morgan, who has scripted screenplays for the franchise, is now writing the spin-off that will focus on Luke Hobbs, the Diplomatic Security Service agent played by Johnson, and Deckard Shaw, an assassin character who was a primary bad guy in the franchise played by Statham.
Sources revealed that Justin Lin might return to the franchise as the top man of Fast 9.
Johnson joined the film’s family in 2011 for Fast Five and quickly became a major factor in the franchise’s growth. He has starred in four of the eight movies.
Statham entered on Fast & Furious 6 and co-starred in the last two films.
No deals have been made with the actors as of yet.
Earlier on Thursday, Fast & Furious star Tyrese Gibson slammed Johnson for delaying the ninth film.
“#PSA Congratulations to @TheRock and your brother in law aka 7 bucks producing partner @hhgarcia41 for making the fast and the furious franchise about YOU,” Gibson wrote on Instagram.
“And like you, DJ even if they call I will not be deleting this post – Gn folks see you in 2020 April #FastFamily right? Nah…..it’s about #TeamDewayne (sic) #3yrs will it be worth the wait? #NoShaw just Hobbs will this be another #Baywatch? Guys guys just relax I’m just a passionate film critic,” he continued.
The ninth installment of the action series was originally slated for April 19, 2019. However, Fast and Furious 9 has been pushed back and will now hit theaters on April 10, 2020.
This isn’t the first time that Gibson has slammed Johnson. He previously expressed his displeasure with the idea of The Rock doing a standalone movie for his Fast character, Hobbs.
“If you move forward with that #Hobbs Movie you will have purposely ignored the heart to heart moment we had in my sprinter,” Gibson wrote in September. “I don’t wanna hear from you until you remember what we talked about. I’m on your timeline cause you’re not responding to my text messages – #FastFamily is just that a family…….. We don’t fly solo.”
Photo Credit: Universal-Pictures
