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‘Fast 8’ Cast Share Group Photo On Vin Diesel’s Instagram As Production’s Furious Pace Prepares For 2017 Release Date

By Colin Fredericson
Published on: 09:48 PST, Jun 7, 2016

The Fast 8 cast released a photo over Vin Diesel’s Instagram in the midst of production for the 2017 sequel. A lot of the faces from the series are still here. Looking most energetic is Dwayne Johnson, flexing his notoriously built biceps. The included 11 people should be the cast members getting the most screen time. A major cast member is of course absent. After Paul Walker’s death, Vin Diesel stated to MTV that Furious 7 was “for Paul,” and that Fast 8 will be “from Paul.” The Fast 8 release date has been set for April 14 of next year.

Charlize Theron, seen in the Instagram post, is rumored to be the main villain. Kristofer Hivju is rumored to be one of her henchmen. Plot details are slim at this point. The only thing openly revealed are the shooting locations, which would be the hardest things to keep secret for this type of huge action movie. The cast and crew have already shot in Iceland, Cuba, and Cleveland. They are supposed to move to Atlanta and New York City, and NYC is supposed to be the main setting of the movie this time. People living in Cleveland witnessed incredible scenes of cars falling out of the sky. The cars were taking a dive overhead out of a building as a helicopter flew nearby. Hopefully, people knew it was a movie shoot.

As Screen Rant reports, Fast 8 is the first in a new trilogy of Fast and Furious movies. Furious 7 was originally supposed to be the start of a new trilogy but plans changed after Paul Walker’s death. No Paul Walker brother is going to be part of the Fast 8 cast this time. Caleb and Cody Walker helped complete filming on Furious 7 by lending themselves to digital modeling. The visual effects team used them and a similar looking cast member to help represent Walker, along with outtakes and footage left over from previous movies. The producers have confirmed they will not take that route again.

Vin Diesel revealed in early interviews that Kurt Russell’s character was put in there to help drive the franchise forward into a new trilogy. He will likely launch the crew in a different trajectory. Just like the first few Fast and Furious movies took street racing as their theme, and the next few were more heist movies, the upcoming trilogy is rumored to also take a new direction. Of course, whatever that new direction develops into, it will still be along the lines of a huge action movie with enormous amounts of ridiculously fast vehicles.

Furious 7 was financially the biggest Fast and Furious movie to date. It took in $1.5 billion worldwide and holds the record for the sixth movie overall in worldwide box office earnings. Part of the draw of the movie was the way it served as a tribute to Paul Walker. The movie also had a No. 1 hit song single which was also a dedication to Paul Walker. This allowed movie audiences to celebrate the life and career of Paul Walker along with the cast and crew of Furious 7. Despite the success, director James Wan did not return to direct Fast 8.

F. Gary Gray was chosen as director this time, and Justin Lin, who director most of the movies in the franchise, is rumored to come back at some point for the remaining sequels. Gray had a phenomenal 2015 hit music biopic film with Straight Outta Compton, while Justin Lin moved on to make the third movie in the Star Trek reboot series. Star Trek fans think Lin is taking an unwelcome Fast and Furious approach to Star Trek, making it more action than science fiction. Huge action films are unique for Gray, but the urban ingenuity he infused throughout Straight Outta Compton should mesh well with the Fast 8 cast.

[Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images]

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