The Fate of the Furious (alternatively known as
Fast & Furious 8 and
Fast 8, and often stylized as
F8) is a 2017 American
action film directed by
F. Gary Gray and written by
Chris Morgan. It is the eighth installment in
The Fast and the Furious franchise. The film stars
Vin Diesel,
Dwayne Johnson,
Jason Statham,
Michelle Rodriguez,
Tyrese Gibson,
Chris "Ludacris" Bridges,
Scott Eastwood,
Nathalie Emmanuel,
Elsa Pataky,
Kurt Russell and
Charlize Theron.
The Fate of the Furious follows
Dominic Toretto (Diesel), who has settled down with his wife
Letty Ortiz (Rodriguez), until
cyberterrorist Cipher (Theron) coerces him into working for her and turns him against his team, forcing them to find Dom and take down Cipher.
The Fate of the Furious marks the first installment in the franchise since
Tokyo Drift (2006) not to feature both
Paul Walker, who died in a
single-vehicle crash during the filming of
Furious 7 (2015) on November 30, 2013,
[3] and
Jordana Brewster.
[4]
Script rewrites to the seventh installment after Walker's death were
intended to complete the story arcs for both of their characters (
Brian O'Conner and Mia Toretto, respectively).
Plans for an eighth installment were first announced in March 2015 when Diesel appeared on
Jimmy Kimmel Live! and announced that the film would be set in
New York City. Preparations for the film began immediately after the release of
Furious 7, with Diesel, Morgan and producer
Neal H. Moritz
re-signing. After setting an initial release date in the same month,
casting took place between April and June 2015. In October 2015, Gray
was announced to direct the film in the place of
James Wan, who had directed the previous installment.
Principal photography began in March 2016 in locations such as
Mývatn,
Havana,
Atlanta,
Cleveland and New York City, continuing the franchise's tradition of filming in exotic locations around the world.
[5]
The Fate of the Furious premiered in
Berlin on April 4, 2017, and was theatrically released in the United States on April 14, 2017, playing in
3D,
IMAX 3D and
4DX
internationally. The film received mixed reviews from critics, many of
whom praised the action sequences and acting performances but criticized
the storyline. The film grossed over $1.2 billion worldwide, making it
the thirtieth film (and the second in the franchise, after
Furious 7) to gross over $1 billion, the
third-highest-grossing film of 2017 and the
fifteenth-highest-grossing film of all time.
[6] The film grossed $542 million worldwide during its opening weekend, which is the
second highest-grossing worldwide opening of all time behind
Avengers: Infinity War
(2018). A spinoff film starring Johnson and Statham's characters is
scheduled for release in August 2019, while the ninth and tenth films
are scheduled for releases on the years 2020 and 2021.
