the fate of the furious

Thanks to practical stunts, a globetrotting narrative, and a diverse cast, the Fast & Furious franchise continues to thrive after more than fifteen years of life. This year’s The Fate of the Furious marks the eighth film in the Fast and Furious series. With the loss of Paul Walker prior to the release of Furious 7, however, the future of the franchise was in question. As such, the new movie will not only serve as something of a tribute to the former star, but a way to kick off a new era for the series.

With Fate, the team behind the films will be switching things up a bit by pairing Dom with a new villain and testing the bonds of family that have been built up in the previous movies. The tactic looks to be working already, as Fate of the Furious‘ projected opening weekend take is $110 million and the latest Fate of the Furious trailer set social media ablaze. It’s not wonder that (at least) two more Fast & Furious installments have already been planned.

Thanks to the new status quo, the stage will also be set for the franchise to move in a new direction. Speaking at Universal’s CinemaCon 2017 panel, Diesel has the following to say about Fate of the Furious:

“As the world sees this movie, they’ll see how its the beginning of a new trilogy.”

Diesel also mentioned that certain characters were brought onboard for Fate of the Furious, to be part of this new film trilogy, meaning we may see these characters take a more active role in shaping the plot of the upcoming films. Although it’s been over a year since Universal first announced release dates for Fast & Furious 9 and 10, Diesel’s reveal at CinemaCon confirms that the plot for Fate of the Furious lays the groundwork for two additional (final?) chapters.

Among the newcomers in Fate of the Furious who could be part of this new Fast & Furious trilogy are Charlize Theron and Helen Mirren. Theron may yet survive Fate of the Furious, only to continue to serve as the Big Bad for the new trilogy. Either that, or she could join the Fast team like Jason Statham’s Deckard Shaw will be doing this go around. As for Mirren: if Luke Evans is to be believed, then the Oscar-winner is playing the Shaw Brothers’ mother.

While her addition to the cast may seem baffling at first, Mirren actually asked Diesel for a Fast & Furious role. Given that level of dedication, it wouldn’t surprise us to see her return with a bigger role in subsequent films. After all, with a cast as diverse as the Fast franchise, it’d be great to see an older character join the crew. With Fate of the Furious releasing in just a few weeks, we’ll likely know even more soon about the future of the series.

the fate of the furious trailer #2 break down. 

It might seem like Furious 7 was just in theaters yesterday, but we’re now quickly closing in on the release of its sequel, Fate of the Furious. The Fast & Furious franchise has changed a lot since its humble inception, but its repeated box office and, more recently, critical success has kept it going, turning it into one of the most profitable franchises of all time. While we all love comic book movies and Star Wars, having another major tentpole that represents an original – yet still unique – property is a great way to get ready for the summer movie season.

The official second trailer for Fate of the Furious was just released, and while it covers many of the same highlights as the previous trailers, there’s a lot of new information revealed through a few new lines of dialogue and some previously unseen footage (including some insane action). Here’s our complete breakdown.

GONE, BUT NOT FORGOTTEN

After the tragic passing of Paul Walker during the holiday break for Furious 7’s production, the movie was finished with a combination of CGI and Walker’s brothers, who acted as stand-ins, wrapping up Brian O’Connor’s story and giving him a touching send-off.

While Brian O’Connor is no longer an active part of

the story, his presence is clearly still felt, as the trailer includes a glimpse of a photograph featuring Dom and Letty With Mia, Brian, and their baby. Walker may have been written out of the franchise, but it’s touching to see that he’s still in the hearts of his team, as he surely is with Vin Diesel, who was a close friend of his.

‘DON’T GIVE UP ON HIM SO EASY’

The very first trailer for Furious 8 dropped the bombshell that Dom had turned against the team – his family. It was initially played off as a full cold-blooded betrayal, but subsequent trailers have added some nuance to his decision. While it initially seemed like a reversal of Letty’s role in Fast and Furious 6, Dom isn’t suffering from amnesia and is understandably very upset about his coercion.

What is consistent with Letty’s turn in Fast and Furious 6 is that his team hasn’t given up on him. We’ve heard the “you don’t turn your back on family” like in almost every piece of marketing so far, but this trailer adds a new one: “don’t give up on him so easy.” It’s not clear if Dom will be the “villain” for the full duration, or if he’ll find a way to turn on Cipher to join his family before the thir act (he appears to be leading the pack in the submarine ice chase), but Letty’s not about to accept his betrayal as truth just yet.

‘ONE THING I CAN GUARANTEE, NO ONE’S READY FOR THIS’

Charlize Theron is joining the cast as the new villain, Cipher, but outside of the fact that Dom is apparently working for her and Kurt Russel’s “Mr. Nobody” has referred to her as “the very definition of high-tech terrorism,” there hasn’t been much revealed about just what that means. Until now.

It may not have been a surprise when the trailer revealed it, but we really should have seen it coming. Cipher is able to hack every car in New York city to create a car stampede, which is really only a logical inevitability for this franchise. This just might be the Fast & Furious equivalent of Neo vs. Agent Smith in Matrix Reloaded, and if that doesn’t excite you, then this franchise clearly isn’t for you.

‘OUR PATHS HAVE CROSSED BEFORE DOM, YOU JUST DIDN’T KNOW IT’

Like any long-running series, Fate of the Furious is about to add a major retcon. “London, Abu Dhabi, Cuba, our paths have crossed before Dom, you just don’t know it.” Just like how Han’s death in Tokyo Drift was revealed to be at the hands of Jason Statham’s Deckard Shaw, it appears the crew, or at least Dom, has a much longer history with Cipher than we would have known from watching the other movies.

Whether she was simply present as an observer or if she was actually pulling strings the whole time remains to be seen, but the events of Furious 8 may very well change the way the rest of the series looks for subsequent viewings.

‘IF YOU’RE GONNA CATCH DOM, YOU’RE GONNA NEED SOME HELP’

Naturally, since the crew is facing off against Dom, they need to bring in a new member. That new member is Deckard Shaw, meaning there will be no shortage of outrageous name calling and threats coming from Dwane ‘The Rock’ Johnson’s mouth for the entirety of the movie. This is clearly an uncomfortable alliance, but it’s not yet clear if there’s something more going on. Shaw obviously wanted to destroy the team before, so could his cooperation mean he’s working with Cipher?

Having Shaw and Toretto both acting as double agents might seem more fit for The Departed than the Fast & Furious franchise, but as these movies continually have to remind us: nothing is off the table.

‘ALRIGHT, YOU GET STYLE POINTS FOR THAT ONE’

It may have started with drag races and escalated to “ejecto seato cuz!” and hardcore drifting, but the steady increase of crazy stunts never stopped. Whenever fans begin to think that the franchise has hit its peak in outrageous stunts, another movie comes along and proves everyone wrong. Before long, leaping from speeding cars became commonplace, cars are parachuting out of planes, and Dominic Toretto jumps a car between two skyscrapers. Naturally, Fate of the Furious continues this trend.

In this newest trailer, we get to see Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson’s Hobbs go up against an enemy we’ve never seen him face before: a torpedo skating across a sheet of ice. Telling Roman (who’s apparently already lost his orange Lamborghini seen in other trailers) to take the wheel, Hobbs steps out to skate alongside the vehicle, redirecting the torpedo into another car. Clearly, the bar is raised yet again, and it looks like there’s a lot more where that came from in the full film.

‘YOU THOUGHT THIS WAS GONNA BE A STREET FIGHT?’

Obviously, that torpedo came from somewhere. As we’ve already seen in other trailers, there’s a massive set piece in Fate of the Furious where they go up against a submarine on a sheet of ice. If that scene didn’t already look big enough, we now know that there’s a lot more to it than a simple chase. Torpedoes are launched from under the ice to obliterate cars on the surface, and missiles are launched to rain down from above. It’s hard to imagine how this scene could get any crazier in the actual movie, but Fast & Furious always finds a way.

Fate of the Furious, like its predecessors, appears to be bigger than any of the Fast & Furious movies to come before it. With Fast & Furious 9 and 10 also currently planned, it feels like it won’t be long before the Toretto team is fighting off space aliens – and no one would bat an eye.