I’m more than sure that I had a better title myself going into this when Universal added a ‘Fast And Furious Presents’ prefix to its Hobbs And Shaw spin-off. Nonetheless, I’m sensing a theme and I’m looking to see how it gets applied as we finally look toward wrapping up the main Fast canon with at least two more films.
Page Six, New York Post
Idris Elba is officially entering the Fast & Furious arena by way of David Leitch’s upcoming spin-off set to begin shooting this Fall. Justin Kroll at Variety exclusively confirmed the actor is in final talks to star as the villain of Hobbs And Shaw which will see actors Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham reprising their respective roles from the latest four films of the Fast franchise.
The news comes following the addition of actress and upcoming Mission: Impossible – Fallout actress Vanessa Kirby (The Crown) who will reportedly join the cast as an MI-5 agent who happens to be the sister of Statham’s role. Other casting announcements remain pending from a script by Chris Morgan who also joins in producing with Neal H. Moritz and Johnson of Original Films and Johnson’s Seven Bucks Productions, respectively.
Kelly McCormick, Steve Chasman, Amanda Lewis, Ainsley Davies and Ethan Smith are executive producing the film.
Leitch is coming off of his latest hit comic book adaptation, Deadpool 2 with Hobbs And Shaw marking his third directorial run since Atomic Blonde and sharing the director’s chair with Chad Stahelski for Lionsgate’s 2014 hit, John Wick. Elba is fresh from his latest directorial endeavor with British crime drama, Yardie, and appearing in the Russos’ two-billion dollar theatrical success, Avengers: Infinity War.
Trade news sources are confirming release date changes for at least two titles this week.
Columbia/Universal
First up is Bad Boys For Life, currently set up at Sony for Morrocan film duo Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah (Gangsta) to direct. Anita Busch at Deadline is confirming a Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday weekend release on January 17, 2020 with actors Will Smith and Martin Lawrence reprising their roles for a third time since the trilogy took off in 1995. That film and its 2003 sequel were both directed by Michael Bay and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer who will also produce the threequel.
Last and far from least is the exciting reunion of Jason Statham and Dwayne Johnson pairing up for Hobbs and Shaw spinning off the longstanding hit Fast And Furious film series. Previously slated for a July 26, 2019 release, Universal Pictures is pushing the date back one week to August 2, 2019 when it will compete with 20th Century Fox release, The New Mutants.
David Leitch will add to his credentials as director here following John Wick and solo directing Atomic Blonde and upcoming Deadpool 2. Chris Morgan is penning the screenplay for the film as the studio further maintains its focus on finalizing the franchise with Justin Lin returning to direct the ninth and tenth films.
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