The Fate of the Furious (alternatively known as Fast & Furious 8 and Fast 8, and often stylized as F8) is a 2017 American action film directed by F. Gary Gray and written by Chris Morgan. It is the eighth installment in The Fast and the Furious franchise and stars Vin Diesel, Dwayne Johnson, Jason Statham, Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, Chris Bridges, Nathalie Emmanuel, Kurt Russell, Scott Eastwood, Charlize Theron and Helen Mirren.
The Fate of the Furious marks the first film of the franchise since The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006) not to star Paul Walker, who died in a single-vehicle crash on November 30, 2013, during the filming of Furious 7 (2015). It also marks the third film after 2 Fast 2 Furious (2003) and Tokyo Drift to not star Jordana Brewster, as her character was written out following Walker's death.[1]
Plans for an eighth installment were first announced in March 2015 when Diesel appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live! and disclosed that the film would be set in New York City. Preparations for the film began immediately after the release of Furious 7 with Diesel, Morgan and producer Neal H. Moritz re-signing. After setting an initial release date in the same month, casting took place between April and June 2015. In October 2015, Gray, best known for directing Straight Outta Compton (2015), was announced to direct the film in the place of James Wan, who had directed the previous film. Principal photography began in March 2016 in locations such as Mývatn, Havana, Atlanta, Cleveland and New York City, continuing the franchise's tradition of filming in different locations around the world.
The film premiered on April 4, 2017 in Berlin and is scheduled to be released in the United States on April 14, 2017 in 3D, 2D and IMAX 3D.[2][3]
Contents
Synopsis
After the events of the last film, things have calmed down for the crew. Dom and Letty finally enjoy some free time on their long-awaited honeymoon, while Brian and Mia fully dedicate themselves to their small family. This changes with the arrival of a cyber-terrorist called Cipher. She manipulates Dom and tricks him into commiting various crimes, sometimes even against his allies. Now, Letty, Hobbs and the others need to go to their limits and even work together with arch enemy Deckard Shaw to get their friend back.Cast
For more details on the characters, see List of The Fast and the Furious characters.
- Vin Diesel as Dominic Toretto, a former criminal and professional street racer who has retired and settled down with his wife, Letty. He is coerced by Cipher to work against his family.
- Dwayne Johnson as Luke Hobbs, a DSS agent who allied with Dom after their outings in Rio de Janeiro and Europe.
- Jason Statham as Deckard Shaw, a rogue special forces assassin imprisoned by Dom and the DSS after his defeat in Los Angeles, who serves as an ally to help Dom's team take down Dom and Cipher.
- Michelle Rodriguez as Letty Ortiz, Dom's wife and a former professional street racer.
- Tyrese Gibson as Roman Pearce, a former criminal from Barstow and a member of Dom's team.
- Chris Bridges as Tej Parker, a mechanic from Miami and a member of Dom's team.
- Nathalie Emmanuel as Ramsey, a computer hacktivist and a member of Dom's team.
- Kurt Russell as Frank Petty, the leader of a covert ops team who aided Dom and his team in taking down Deckard Shaw in Abu Dhabi.
- Scott Eastwood as Eric Reisner, a law enforcement agent working under Petty.
- Charlize Theron as Cipher, a criminal mastermind and cyber-terrorist who manages to corrupt Dom into working against his allies.
- Helen Mirren as Magdalene Shaw, the mother of Deckard and Owen Shaw.
- Elsa Pataky as Elena Neves, a DSS agent and former Rio police officer who moved to the United States to become Hobbs' new partner at the DSS.
- Tego Calderón as Tego Leo, a former member of Dom's team in the Dominican Republic and Rio de Janeiro.
- Don Omar as Rico Santos, a former member of Dom's team in the Dominican Republic and Rio de Janeiro.
- Kristofer Hivju as Rhodes, one of Cipher's henchmen.
Production
Development
Following the release of Furious 7 (2015), Vin Diesel said regarding a possible sequel:I was trying to keep it close to the vest throughout the release. Paul Walker used to say that [an eighth film] was guaranteed. And in some ways, when your brother guarantees something, you sometimes feel like you have to make sure it comes to pass... so if fate has it, then you'll get this when you hear about it. [Furious 7] was for Paul, [the eighth film] is from Paul.[4]
"We're trying to do what we always do, which is try to come at it
from a character point of view and figure out where the characters would
go from here. I think the thing that's made The Fast and the Furious
special is obviously we have incredible action and so on. But the thing
that people really relate to the most is the characters. We're lucky
that we have a lot of great characters. Unfortunately, we don't have
Paul [Walker] anymore. His character... has moved on. But we feel like
there's a lot still to be mined. That's where we're starting. We're
really talking about the characters, where they all sit right now. It's a
huge challenge".
At the 2015 CinemaCon in Las Vegas, Diesel announced the film for an April 14, 2017 release date.[8][9] On August 16, 2015, at the 2015 Teen Choice Awards (where Furious 7 received the award for Choice Movie – Action and Walker received the award for Choice Movie Actor – Action), Diesel announced that the film would be titled Fast 8.[10] In September 2015, Diesel stated that the script had almost been completed[11] and expressed interest in Rob Cohen, who directed the first film, to direct Fast 8.[12] On October 14, 2015, Diesel announced on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon that Straight Outta Compton director F. Gary Gray would direct the film.[13][14] The film marks Diesel and Gray's second work together, following A Man Apart (2003).[15]
In July 2015, Moritz said that Walker's character, Brian O'Conner, would not appear in the film, following the use of CGI in the previous film after Walker died in a single-vehicle accident on November 30, 2013, with Moritz stating that his character had "moved on".[5] It had previously been reported that Paul's younger brother, Cody Walker, would either join the cast in a new role[16] or replace his older brother in the role of O'Conner,[17] however, it was later confirmed that he would not be returning to the franchise.[18] Moritz also said that the film would shift the focus of the franchise from a series of heist films to a spy caper, following a similar change in focus from street racing in Fast Five (2011).[19] In December 2016, the film was retitled The Fate of the Furious.[20]
Casting
Diesel, Russell, and Michelle Rodriguez were the first to confirm their involvement in the film, and Tyrese Gibson and Chris Bridges both confirmed their return soon after,[21] with Lucas Black having already signed on to reprise his role from The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift as Sean Boswell for Furious 7, and two more installments in September 2013.[22] In May 2015, Dwayne Johnson confirmed his involvement in the film, additionally hinting at a possible spin-off film involving his character, Luke Hobbs.[23] Jason Statham also confirmed his return.[24]In April 2016, Charlize Theron and Kristofer Hivju were confirmed as additions to the cast in villainous roles,[25][26] while Scott Eastwood also joined the cast as a law enforcement agent.[27] On May 17, 2016, Diesel posted a photo on his Instagram page of himself and Elsa Pataky on set, indicating that she had also returned for the film,[28] and was followed two days later by a video on set with Nathalie Emmanuel, who also starred in the previous film.[29] In June 2016, Helen Mirren announced in an interview with Elle that she will be appearing in the film.[30]
On July 11, 2016, Don Omar tweeted that he and Tego Calderon will be returning to the franchise for the eighth picture.[31]
During an interview with Chris Mannix on July 21, 2016, Lucas Black confirmed he would not be appearing in the eighth installment due to scheduling conflicts.[32]
Filming
In keeping with the franchise's penchant for filming in "exotic" locations, such as Dubai and Rio de Janeiro, in January 2016 it was announced that Universal was seeking approval from the United States and Cuban governments to shoot the film in Cuba.[33][34] Principal photography began on March 14, 2016, in Mývatn, Iceland,[35][36] where strong winds sent a plastic iceberg prop flying into a paddock and striking two horses. One was wounded and the other mortally injured; it was later euthanized.[37] In late April, filming began in Cuba's capital city Havana.[38][39][40] In May, filming also took place in Cleveland, Ohio.[41][42] Franchise cinematographer, Stephen F. Windon, was confirmed to return for the eighth installment.[43]Filming also took place in Atlanta and New York City.[44][not in citation given]
Music
Main article: The Fate of the Furious: The Album
Brian Tyler, who scored the third, fourth, fifth, and seventh installments, was tapped to compose the film score for the eight picture.[45] A soundtrack album by Atlantic Records is set to release on April 14, 2017, accompanying the film's theatrical release.[46]
