Once upon a time, the Fast & Furious franchise had lost a bit of it’s mojo and attempted a bit of a resurrection by luring back Vin Diesel when his blockbuster career sort of fizzled-out. Universal Pictures eventually got the bright idea to start asking established movie stars to take supporting or villain roles in the franchise leading to Dwayne Johnson playing Hobbs that sort of signaled to other bigger names that is was okay to put their name to the franchise (which had been a complete joke at one point).
Later on, we’d see folks like Jason Statham, Kurt Russell, Helen Mirren, Charlize Theron, Ryan Reynolds, Kevin Hart, Idris Elba, Vanessa Kirby, and John Cena get involved with the Fast franchise.
Interestingly enough, when it was time to start making spinoff films, Hobbs & Shaw was the first one to get made with the pairing of Johnson and Statham. The movie was a good gamble because it ended up earning $759 million at the global box office and a sequel is officially in the works.
There had been tension between stars Vin Diesel and Johnson (manufactured or not), but it seems real enough to the point that Dwayne hasn’t been involved with the movies since The Fate of The Furious. Well, the actor is promoting his big Disney movie Jungle Cruise that he stars alongside Emily Blunt and revealed to The Hollywood Reporter in an interview that he won’t be returning for Fast & Furious 10 or Fast & Furious 11, wishing them well.
“I laughed and I laughed hard. I think everyone had a laugh at that. And I’ll leave it at that. And that I’ve wished them well. I wish them well on Fast 9. And I wish them the best of luck on Fast 10 and Fast 11 and the rest of the Fast & Furious movies they do that will be without me,” Johnson told THR and revealed he won’t be involved with the final two movies.
F9: The Fast Saga has already earned an impressive global cume of $592.6 million at the box office, a large feat given most pandemic era blockbusters have struggled to turn a profit.
Dwayne Johnson recently wrapped on his DC Comics film Black Adam, a passion project that took well over a decade to get in front of cameras. His busy schedule likely means he can find other things to do and with the Hobbs & Shaw films can dip his toes back in the franchise if he really has the itch.
SOURCE: THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER
THE RONIN 