Tag: Vin Diesel

Posted on in Film News, News

Vin Diesel Confirms Return For Universal’s ‘Fast & Furious’ Grand Finale Despite Lawsuit From Former Assistant Accusing Him Of Sexual Battery

The “Fast & Furious” franchise is chugging along with screenwriters Christina Hodson and Oren Uziel tasked to write the script for the next film with French action director Louis Leterrier (“The Incredible Hulk”) returning after being a replacement for longtime franchise creative/helmer Justin Lin (“Star Trek Beyond”) when he exited “Fast X” over creative differences leading the studio to hire a new director while in the middle of an expensive production.

Franchise star/executive producer Vin Diesel, who is facing a lawsuit from his former assistant Asta Jonasson surrounding sexual battery allegations, took to Instagram to reveal that he’s part of creative meetings with the studio and writers for the eleventh installment that is being referred to as the “grand finale.”

There had been some questions if Diesel would be kept on the franchise moving forward as we’ve seen some Hollywood studios dumping actors from high-profile projects due to racist, antisemitic, violent, and criminal behavior/allegations to avoid PR nightmares or end working relationships before further revelations are revealed. Diesel had been keeping a low profile since the lawsuit was announced last year and Universal had previously etched in the release for “Fast X: Part 2/Fast & Furious 11” for April 4, 2025. That date would signal a shoot starting up this spring or summer unless the studio decided to delay it.

You can see that post from Diesel below.

SOURCE: VIN DIESEL VIA INSTAGRAM

Posted on in Film News, News

Dwayne Johnson Says He Won’t Be Involved With ‘Fast & Furious 10’ Or ‘Fast & Furious 11’; Wishes Them “Best Of Luck”

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

Posted on in Film News

‘F9: The Fast Saga’ Crosses $500M At Global Box Office

Universal Pictures delaying F9: The Fast Saga has paid off for the studio as the sequel is breaking miltuple pandemic records as Box Office Mojo has the film sitting at an international total of $500.3 million with $126 million coming from domestic box office.

The last installment, The Fate of The Furious, made an impressive final total of $1.2 billion.

Vin Diesel recently told Regal Movies in an interview that Furious 10 (parts 1-2) will begin shooting in January. With the main movies winding-down, there are plenty of offshoots in the works from Universal Pictures such as a Hobbs & Shaw sequel in development along with Michelle Rodriguez and Charlize Theron getting spinoffs as well. Diesel has also mused about potential prequels as well.

We’ll keep our fingers crossed that Sung Kang’ Han will get his own film too because it only makes sense to bring him back to give him a spinoff adventure.

While it’s not complete picture of the theater industry completely healed, it’s a good sign that other summer films might end up doing well as Black Widow, Snake Eyes, and The Suicide Squad are coming up. The problem at the moment is that vaccine numbers have stalled in the U.S. and the Delta variant quickly becoming the dominate version of COVID-9 across the globe, when many countries are behind in their vaccinations.

F9: THE FAST SAGA – Dom Toretto is living the quiet life off the grid with Letty and his son, but they know that danger always lurks just over the peaceful horizon. This time, that threat forces Dom to confront the sins of his past to save those he loves most. His crew soon comes together to stop a world-shattering plot by the most skilled assassin and high-performance driver they’ve ever encountered — Dom’s forsaken brother.

SOURCE: BOX OFFICE MOJO

Posted on in Film News

Vin Diesel Comments On Rumored Role In James Cameron’s ‘Avatar’ Sequels; “I Have Not Filmed Yet”

You might remember a cheeky video that was posted by Vin Diesel on Instagram back in April 2019 that had the Fast & Furious actor visiting director James Cameron on the Manhattan Beach Studios set of the Avatar sequels, where they shoot the motion-capture sequences. This originally gave fans the impression that Diesel could be joining the Cameron’s new Avatar movies in some capacity but nothing was ever officially announced, only speculated.

This was only bolstered because Vin’s Fast & Furious franchise co-star Michelle Rodriguez played SecOps pilot Trudy Chacon in the first Avatar installment.

Well, MTV News caught-up with Diesel during the promotional rounds for F9 and asked him directly about joining the massive sci-fi franchise. However, it sounds like if we’ll see Diesel in these movies, it won’t be until Avatar 4 or Avatar 5 as he says he hasn’t filmed anything “yet.” It’s been well established that James Cameron has completed motion-capture/live-action photography on Avatar 2 an Avatar 3.

Diesel responded with the following when asked if he’ll appear in the sequels, “I have spent time with [James Cameron], but I have not filmed yet. [smiles while pausing] I love James Cameron, and I love the series, and I think it’s safe to say that we will be working together.”

Hopefully, Avatar 2 will stick to it’s current release date of December 16, 2022.

AVATAR – On the lush alien world of Pandora live the Na’vi, beings who appear primitive but are highly evolved. Because the planet’s environment is poisonous, human/Na’vi hybrids, called Avatars, must link to human minds to allow for free movement on Pandora. Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), a paralyzed former Marine, becomes mobile again through one such Avatar and falls in love with a Na’vi woman (Zoe Saldana). As a bond with her grows, he is drawn into a battle for the survival of her world.

SOURCE: MTV NEWS