The saga continues… and continues! After Furious 7 broke box office records earlier this year, the stars of the beloved action franchise are already gearing up for the next installment.
Jason Statham, who made his Fast & Furious debut in 2013’s Fast & Furious 6, teased Fast & Furious 8 at the unveiling of Universal Studios Hollywood’s new Fast & Furious Supercharged theme park ride on Tuesday, June 23.
“We’re already talking about doing another one, part eight,” Statham, 47, said in an interview with Access Hollywood at the event. “I’m a newcomer, I just got invited to the party in this last one, so it’s nice to know I’m going to be doing another.”
“They’ve always got something good up their sleeves,” the Italian Job star added of the movies’ screenwriters and directors. “I don’t want to be the one who spoils everything!… But there is some great stuff that I already know about.”
Statham is expected to reunite with franchise regulars Vin Diesel, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, and Ludacris, among others, for Fast & Furious 8. Universal Pictures announced in April that while details are just starting to be unveiled, the eighth movie already has a release date of April 14, 2017.
Universal’s plan for another movie was no doubt influenced by the massive, runaway success of April’s Furious 7. The flick, which featured the late Paul Walker, brought in more than $1.5 billion at the worldwide box office, making it the fourth highest-grossing movie of all time.
“The fan base, it’s very unique,” Statham told Access Hollywood of the franchise’s supporters. “They really do relate to the characters, they love these characters, they’ve followed them for years and years.”
Said fans were forced to say goodbye to Walker with the release of Furious 7 after the actor’s untimely death in November 2013 at the age of 40. The Varsity Blues star had already shot many of his scenes for Furious 7 when he died in a car crash in California, prompting his brothers Cody and Caleb to finish up his work on the film.
Diesel, 47, nodded to his late friend at the ride’s unveiling on Tuesday, dedicating the experience to Walker. The XXX star, who also named his daughter Pauline after Walker, shouted “This one’s for you Pablo,” when the cast members cut the ribbon on the ride.
