It looks like some headway has been made with Universal’s Fast & Furious spin-off film Hobbs and Shaw. A couple months ago it was rumoured Deadpool 2 director David Leitch was in talks to direct the film with Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham starring and now Universal has confirmed the news.
The announcement was made via Fast & Furious‘ Twitter page, welcoming Leitch to the franchise. Though the project doesn’t have an official title, it will centre on Johnson’s Diplomatic Security Service agent Luke Hobbs, who has appeared in the franchise since Fast Five, and Jason Statham’s mercenary assassin Deckard Shaw, who first joined the franchise in a post-credits scene for Fast & Furious 6 before appearing as an antagonist in Furious 7 and unexpected ally in The Fate of the Furious.
Please welcome David Leitch as the director of the Fast & Furious Hobbs and Shaw spinoff. pic.twitter.com/RnpN0RMko9
— The Fast Saga (@TheFastSaga) April 12, 2018
There has been some tension among some of the cast over the spin-off. Tyrese Gibson famously blamed Johnson for delaying production of Fast & Furious 9 to make room for the spin-off. Johnson himself recently spoke about his feud with lead star Vin Diesel after having not gotten along with each other on Furious 7 and did not shoot their one scene together for Fate of the Furious. Because of this, Johnson may not even appear in the next instalment of the franchise, but focus solely on the Hobbs and Shaw spin-off.
The Hobbs and Shaw spin-off will be released on July 26, 2019.
