'Fast and Furious 8' release date, cast, updates: Vin Diesel posts photo of cast; Director F. Gary Gray shares behind-the-scenes clips

Fast and Furious 8Twitter via F Gary Gray

The gang is back for "Fast and Furious 8," and production started last month. Vin Diesel recently shared a photo of the cast. F. Gary Gray, the director, also shared a behind-the-scenes clip of the rubber-burning movie.

Diesel updated his followers and posted the first photo of the new cast Instagram last week. The picture contains 11 cast members, featuring (from left to right) Jason Statham, Kristofer Hivju, Kurt Russell, Tyrese Gibson, Charlize Theron, Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Chris "Ludacris" Bridges, Nathalie Emmanuel, Scott Eastwood and Dwayne Johnson.

#F8

A photo posted by Vin Diesel (@vindiesel) on

Many are returning cast members, while four are new to the series, including Theron as the villain named Cipher; Hivju, who will portray Cipher's sidekick (the actor plays Tormund Giantsbane in "Game of Thrones"); and Eastwood, who will play Kurt Russell's protegé. There will be three bad guys in the movie, the characters played by Theron, Hivju and Statham.

Jordana Brewster, who plays Mia, the wife of Brian O'Conner (Paul Walker), is not included in the picture, but she is included on the cast list on the movie's IMDB page.  

Meanwhile, Diesel has also shared a picture of him and his daughter, with an image of his late friend Paul Walker inserted and looking down on them. It seems that the actor is emotional and still feeling the pain of the loss of his buddy.  Diesel and Walker were together in the seven films of the series, until Walker's untimely death.

"Fast and Furious 8" is being directed by Felix Gary Gray, who also directed "The Italian Job" and "Straight Outta Compton." He posted a behind-the-scenes clip during one of the shoots in Iceland. He said in the post, "Just in case you missed it on Friday! #fastfridays #f8 #turnup #literally #behindthescenes." The helm was previously occupied by James Wan.

Just in case you missed it on Friday! #fastfridays #f8 #turnup #literally #behindthescenes

A video posted by F Gary Gray (@fgarygray) on

There is still no official news about its plot, but "Fast and Furious 8" is set for release on April 14, 2017.