Universal is readying a “Fate of the Furious” spinoff starring Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham, TheWrap has learned.
The spinoff, which will be written Chris Morgan, will feature Johnson’s Luke Hobbs and Statham’s Decker Shaw teaming up for their own side adventure ahead of the next installment in the “Fast” series of films.
TheWrap previously reported exclusively that a short “tag” featuring Johnson and Statham was filmed for “Fate of the Furious,” but producer and co-star Vin Diesel killed plans to add the scene to the very end of the movie. One individual familiar with the situation told TheWrap that the scene was viewed as a launch point for a potential spinoff.
The news of a potential spinoff comes as “Fate of the Furious” heads into its second weekend in theaters following a record-breaking debut. The movie had the biggest opening weekend in movie history, racking up $536 million worldwide with only $98.8 million coming from domestic screens.
Since releasing in 15 overseas markets on April 12, “Fate” has reached the $600 million global mark in just six days. That puts it on pace to pass “Beauty and the Beast” and set the new bar for the highest grossing film of 2017.
Deadline first reported the news about the spinoff.