It seems that Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson will soon have his own "Fast and Furious" spin-off film.
Speaking with Entertainment Weekly, Johnson said there would be "a lot of surprises" in the recently-announced film. The movie is set to hit the theaters in 2019.
According to Johnson, the spinoff would be about his character, Luke Hobbs, and Deckard Shaw, played by Jason Statham. The movie would be titled "Hobbs and Shaw," and is rumored to be directed by Shane Black. The script will be written by longtime "Fast" franchise veteran Chris Morgan, and apparently, other big stars are also set to appear in the upcoming spinoff film.
"It's been a challenging process because I feel like my intention from day one, when I first joined the cast, was to hopefully come in, have fun, and create a character that people will hopefully like and try to elevate the franchise," Johnson said to EW.
"But in the process of elevating the franchise, I have always thought that in order for this to have real longevity and legs, we should spin out and create characters that can live on their own," he added.
The decision to make spinoffs of the "Fast and Furious" franchise came to light around the time "Fast and Furious 6" was released in 2013. After Johnson's first appearance in the franchise in 2011's "Fast Five," the production team decided that his and Statham's character's on-screen chemistry is a perfect candidate for a spinoff.
However, some of Johnson's co-stars are not keen on his own spinoff film, as it will delay the release of the ninth movie in the "Fast" franchise in 2020. Tyrese Gibson himself criticized the action star in social media, even calling Johnson a "clown."
Still, Johnson is not fazed by the negative issues thrown at him, and at the end of the day, he only wants to make a great film for his fans. "Hobbs and Shaw" is scheduled to release on July 26, 2019.
