Francis “The Predator” Ngannou, the UFC’s #2 in the heavyweight division, is joining the ninth installment of the Fast And Furious saga according to Dino-Ray Ramos’ coverage at Deadline on Wednesday.
Ngannou joins the ranks of previous MMA stars appearing in the longstanding Universal franchise like Gina Carano (Furious 6) and Ronda Rousey (Furious Seven). Details on Ngannou’s role are being kept under the hood for now along with any and all story details, save for what one might be able to derive from the current casting and summation of events from F. Gary Gray’s The Fate Of The Furious.
Small recap: Gray’s film saw Dom (Vin Diesel) and Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) on vacation in the Dominican Republic where renegade cyberterrorist Cipher (Charlize Theron) emerges. Cipher takes Dom’s entire life hostage, forcing him to turn on his own team as they chase him through the streets of New York and the icy outskirts of Russia near a military base while in pursuit of a “nuclear football”.
Production on the ninth film of the Diesel-led film series was briefly halted in the U.K. following an on-set injury sustained stuntman Joe Watts who was moved out of the ICU a week ago and is recovering.
Justin Lin, who directed the 2006, 2009, 2011 and 2013 installments of the franchise, is back at the helm and directing from Dan Casey’s script, storied by Alfredo Botello and the director.
Jordana Brewster, Tyrese Gibson, Christopher “Ludacris” Bridges and Nathalie Emmanuel also headline the roster for the film’s May 22, 2020 release next to Fast 8‘s Helen Mirren, and new franchise additions John Cena, and Ninja Assassin co-star Anna Sawai.