furious 8

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Jason Statham Confirms His Return In FURIOUS 8

Lest I be the one to tell you what happens at the end of director James Wan’s Spring blockbuster hit, Furious Seven, you can catch the movie in an extended edition Blu-Ray with over 100 minutes of behind-the-scenes content this September. Incidentally, you will also spend some of the best two hours and change of the saga as a whole with film chock-filled with intensity, poignancy and explosive action, followed by a heartfelt farewell to franchise principle, late actor Paul Walker who played Brian O’Connor.

In the meantime, franchise newcomer, action legend Jason Statham was on hand this weekend with several of the principle stars this weekend to usher in Fast And Furious: Supercharged, the newest ride at Universal Studios, and Access Hollywood managed to get in just a few words with Statham about a few things, including the next film, Furious 8. Statham took the villainous reigns in Furious Seven as rogue assassin Deckard Shaw as he sought vengeance against in pursuit of the team who crippled his brother, Owen (Luke Evans) in Furious 6, targeting Dom Toretto as he and his team of road warriors jet-ascend to Abu Dhabi in search of a high-tech super-computer chip that grants anyone the ability to target anyone in the world, anywhere and anytime.

The next installment, Furious 8, is already slated for an April 14, 2017 release, and much to the credit Universal Pictures for the film’s $1.5 dollar successful run at the box-office worldwide and beating 2012 superhero flick, Avengers as the highest grossing movie of all time as of this week. Of course, Statham knows all this, as big a deal as it is, and so he gladly graced the interwebs confirming his return to the role of Deckard in his brief one-on-one with Access Hollywood.

Diesel, as well as action superstar Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and The Fast And The Furious: Tokyo Drift star and Furious Seven co-star, actor Lucas Black are among those expected to return for their roles in the next film while the studio plots out the remainder of the Fast And Furious saga. On a seperate note, Statham is also up for a possible return to the role of Chev Chelios in a third installment of the Crank trilogy while recently expressing his interest in sharing some screentime again with his fellow Furious Seven co-star, Thai action star Tony Jaa.

Something tells me either one or both of these will happen. Stay tuned for more info.

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FURIOUS 8 Gets A Release Date. You Read That Correctly.

With events at this year’s CinemaCon underway, it’s been announced that Universal Pictures has officially planted a flag for Furious 8 on April 14, 2017. The recent seventh installment, Furious Seven, became a billion-dollar box office smash hit with domestic and global acclaim, continuing the fifteen-year long saga built on speed, in addition to a diverse cast and a sprawling narrative built on cars, thrilling action, and the biggest most thematically prevalent element within the film series, family.

The eighth installment will no doubt continue its story without one of its leads, late actor Paul Walker whose primary character, Brian O’Connor, was given a final send-off in Furious Seven under director James Wan, completed with real footage with Walker and footage rendered with his image through digital hybrid performances with the help of doubles, including brothers Caleb and Cody Walker. Previous reports have speculated as to whether or not Justin Lin who helmed all but two films within the series would return to direct the remaining films within the franchise, whilst Wan himself also has the option of doing the same between now and then.

There’s no official word yet on who will return or join the new cast, although franchise principle Vin Diesel and action star Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson are possibilities as well as Michelle Rodriguez, Jason Statham and others. Other updates since then have largely pertained to Diesel’s publicity on the film with mentions of the forthcoming eighth entry as a portmanteau titling it “F8” – a film that would otherwise be “from Paul” as opposed to the seventh, which was, in essence a tribute to the late actor. The news is only breaking, but this was bound to happen considering the overall accolades being received through the film’s commercial success, as well as the warm reception of the treatment of Walker’s cinematic exit.

Stay tuned..

H/T: Variety

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Well, This Was Pretty Cool!

“@NStarszak: If you had a too pick a new villain, who would you cast??? @creepypuppet #AskFurious7” Dame Helen Mirren 🙂
— James Wan (@creepypuppet) April 1, 2015

Provided that Furious 7 director James Wan gets to sit in for the eighth film in the new trilogy, he and franchise star, actor Vin Diesel may get their wish, and I’m saying it: Either I called it by dumb luck, or someone very famous is reading my blog.

Furious 7 had its stellar premiere in Hollywood this week we’re just hours away from the film’s opening across the U.S. on Friday. In lieu of all the electricity for the new movie, Furious 8 is already making headlines with Diesel lending mentions of possible story hints located anywhere between China and New York City, and nothing is being made publicly official just yet even as the actor has been plotting a course for the elongated, intricate growth of the Fast And Furious saga since the foruth film in 2009 – something he also made clear in 2011.

That said, the canon is now set following the first three films beginning in 2001, ultimately weaving together a tale of L.A. street racers who have leveled up to become globetrotting outlaws, taking on crime bosses from walks of life beyond borders from drug kingpins to specially-trained mercenaries. Hopefully you’ve caught up on all six film by now with the seventh releasing this week in the U.S., and now with all the talk surrounding an eighth film in the franchise, at least one other voice has been outspoken regarding her own ambitions to be a part of the franchise.

Yahoo! reported on Monday that actress Dame Helen Mirren showed interest in starring in the franchise at some point, and in my own coverage, I mused on a rather peculiar plot point of my own that would be a brilliant setup for what lies ahead in the third trilogy. Now, I’m not saying that Diesel reads my blog or anything (I honestly wouldn’t know and I would be humbled if he did). Otherwise, I would call it a hell of a coincidence that Diesel’s recent statements quoted at CBS News are an exact highlight of my coverage four days ago.

“I respect that. That’s what you need to do in this business,” Diesel said in response to Mirren’s earlier statements regarding her own role in the franchise. “I respect that she’s coming out and saying, ‘I don’t care what anyone thinks. I know the deal. I know I want to work with this dude, and I know I want to work with this franchise.’” He continued with some suggestions about what kind of role she would play, adding, “There are so many options!… You’ve got Nathalie Emmanuel’s mother. You’ve got, of course, the matriarch to the Shaw brothers!”…

The Matriarch.
Of the Shaw brothers.
Bruh.

I so hope this happens at some point between Furious 8 and 9 or however long Universal Pictures plans to keep this thing going. Mirren is a proven badass as it is and she can clearly take on an action role as it is. She’s darn fun to watch in Red and Red 2 while hopefully there will be a third, and as it stands, I hope she gets added as one of the handful of faces I would love to see return and emerge to the franchise in some way or another. Vin wants it, James wants it, and I know I want it. So since we’re talking about it, I guess the question is who else do we need to want it before this can be made to happen? Becuase it should. That’s all.

Furious 7 rolls in this Friday in the states. I might not blog much since I have to save battery power between surfing and working, so you guys have a good weekend!

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