The Fast & The Furious Released Its First & Last Spinoff Movie 7 Years Ago, Despite Vin Diesel Feuding With Its Star
One of the biggest franchises in film history, the Fast & Furious series has grossed over $7 billion dollars at the global box office – peaking with Furious 7 in 2015. That film earned over $1.5 billion globally, entirely on its own. While it’s a little unclear when we’re actually going to see the 11th and final entry in the mainline saga, Fast Forever, there’s no question it’ll eventually happen – considering that, despite an underwhelming performance at the domestic box office, the most recent entry Fast X still managed to earn over $700 million globally.
Fans love the series’ ludicrous car stunts, and have even come to appreciate Vin Diesel’s often self-indulgent hero moments in each film. As a result, it makes sense that The Fast and the Furious would produce a steady stream of spinoff films between mainline entries. However, that was the case, and despite an increasingly large “family” as well as cast for the series, the Fast & Furious movies have only delivered a single spinoff (exactly 7 years ago) – and it was actually born out of a bitter rivalry between the franchise’s two biggest stars.
Hobbs & Shaw Was A Smart Fast & Furious Spinoff Attempt
That movie was Fast and Furious Presents: Hobbs and Shaw and those unique circumstances make it an outlier in the history of spinoffs. Hobbs and Shaw brought together the titular characters, Luke Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) and Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham) who entered the Fast and Furious franchise as antagonists. Hobbs was a former DSS agent who targeted Dom and his crew during Fast Five, while Shaw was the villain who they believed murdered fan favorite Han Lue in Tokyo Drift. Both ended up working with Dom, Letty, and the rest of the gang. Their on-screen rivalry made for a fun spinoff concept, while an off-screen feud is part of why the movie happened.
By the time 2019 rolled around, when Hobbs and Shaw was released, Fast and Furious was at its peak in terms of popularity. As mentioned, Furious 7 and The Fate of the Furious both surpassed $1 billion at the worldwide box office, so it made sense for the franchise to try and branch out. That’s where Hobbs and Shaw came into play, focusing on two interesting characters who weren’t around at the start of the film series and could have their own side adventure.
Johnson and Statham’s star power paired with the Fast and Furious franchise, as well as actors like Idris Elba, Vanessa Kirby, Helen Mirren, and Eiza González, felt like a recipe for success. It was a commercial hit, grossing over $750 million; yet, most fans found it underwhelming compared to the rest of the series.
Dwayne Johnson & Vin Diesel Feuded Ahead Of The Spinoff
While spinoff movies in the Fast and Furious franchise make obvious sense from a money-making standpoint, the feud between Vin Diesel and Dwayne Johnson played a part in Hobbs and Shaw happening. It’s unclear how far back the feud goes, but Johnson made a social media post calling some co-stars “candy asses,” and many believed it was aimed at Diesel specifically. Diesel responded with his own veiled insults online, while Michelle Rodriguez acknowledged there had been tension and Tyrese Gibson even found himself in the middle.
Though Johnson and Diesel shared the screen often in Fast Five, one scene involving them in Fast & Furious 6 is awkwardly filmed, to the point where it looks like they’re not actually being filmed in the same room. Things got even worse for The Fate of the Furious, as Johnson and Diesel actually didn’t shoot a single scene together. Both men were throwing their weight around as producers and storytelling suffered as a result.
Johnson and Diesel were expected to reunite in F9: The Fast Saga, as both were announced as part of the cast. However, by April 2018, Johnson confirmed that he wasn’t coming back and was instead focusing on Hobbs & Shaw. It felt like the plan was for this to start a series for Johnson to lead, and various post-credits sequences even teased as much, while Diesel would keep the mainline series as his own. Johnson even said he wasn’t sure if he’d ever return; though, he did ultimately show up at the end of Fast X and is slated to appear in the upcoming Fast Forever.
Fast & Furious Spinoffs Ideas Have Been Shelved
With its commercial success, Hobbs and Shaw is the kind of movie that would certainly get a sequel. Even before 2019 had concluded, there was talk of plans for a follow-up. The actors expressed interest in doing more, new characters were meant to be introduced, and Johnson even planned for the sequel to be the “antithesis of Fast and Furious.” Then Johnson’s return to Fast X stalled things. The most recent update was an idea for Hobbs and Reyes, a spinoff centered on Hobbs’ feud with Jason Momoa’s villain, Dante Reyes. Alas, nothing has come of that spinoff since 2023’s rumors.
A new Hobbs film isn’t the only Fast and Furious spinoff that hasn’t seen the light of day. There has long been talk of an all-female movie since Diesel teased the idea in 2019. The idea was to release it after F9: The Fast Saga, which never ended up happening. There are writers reportedly working on the project, though it has now been seven years and there’s still no update. However, several spinoff TV shows are said to be in the works – stay tuned to see if any of those actually pan out.
