It’s hard following movie news given the constant regurgitations of controversy and clickbait. Universal’s Fast saga is ripe with those sorts of things what with talk of Michelle Rodriguez wanting a more equal turn of treatment for women for the longstanding franchise, as well as Neal Moritz reportedly being fired from the franchise following a lawsuit he filed with the studio over alleged breach of oral contract and allegations of promissory fraud.
This all comes six years following the death of franchise lead Paul Walker and the hard work of coping with his loss both before and after a pretty boisterous feud between three other of the franchise’s line-up during and after production of The Fate Of The Furious. The franchise is still due for a spin-off this August now with Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham leading Fast And Furious Presents: Hobbs And Shaw while the studio works to develop the final two canonical entries of the Vin Diesel-led street-racing action crime saga.
That brings us to Deadline‘s latest trade blurb confirming the addition of actor John Cena to the mix as production on the TBA ninth installment of the franchise commences principal photography later this month for a May 22, 2020 release. Justin Lin, who has been with the franchise off-and-on since The Fast and The Furious: Tokyo Drift, is set to direct the ennealogical entry once more while fans await further details on cast confirmations.
This franchise has been a huge success with a combined total of more than $5 billion dollars in box office earnings, though to say that this franchise has been through the emotional ringer is a sure understatment. It’s grown an immense fanbase since hitting the gas pedal in 2001 and taking a life of its own with Diesel essentially becoming a key face of the franchise as one of its producers, and I positively look forward to seeing how they close this big-scale street-racing/crime fighting universe, spin-offs aside.