Few film franchises have had the same kind of arc in quality that the Fast and Furious franchise has. Starting out as nothing more than a couple of cheap, critically-middling films, the franchise underwent a major makeover in Fast Five, where it transformed into more of a crime thriller than a standard racing movie. (It should be noted that the addition of The Rock to the lineup of main characters certainly didn’t hurt it either.) But this year, the franchise looks to be releasing its most ambitious, and most promising outing to date with The Fate of the Furious, the eighth installment in a franchise few could have expected to last quite this long.

Directed by F. Gary Gray and featuring an amalgamation of both new and returning stars to the franchise - including Vin Diesel and The Rock - the film is set to follow Dom (Diesel) as he betrays both federal agent Hobbs (Rock) and his entire crew by teaming up with Charlize Theron’s intelligent cyber terrorist, Cypher. Most of the film’s promotional materials and trailers have focused entirely on that betrayal, and that only continues with this latest bit of news.

Hitting theaters early next month, Universal Pictures seems fairly adamant on making sure the awareness for the film and the hype surrounding it is constantly up over the next few weeks. Recently, the studio unveiled a brand new poster for The Fate of the Furious, as well as the official cover image for the upcoming Furious-centric issue of Total Film through its official UK Twitter account. Take a look at both images for yourself:

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JUST RELEASED the new poster for Fast & Furious 8. In UK cinemas April 12. #F8 pic.twitter.com/7VcXIuyLyT— Universal PicturesUK (@universaluk) March 3, 2017

.@VinDiesel on the cover for the latest issue of @TotalFilm.#F8 pic.twitter.com/2e9ottArMN— Universal PicturesUK (@universaluk) March 6, 2017

A majority of the success of the recent Fast and Furious films can be credited to the talent of the filmmakers behind the camera on them. Justin Lin helped to reenergize what was a quickly dying property with both Fast Five and Fast and Furious 6, while James Wan (The Conjuring) brought his signature eye for visuals and camera movements in Furious 7. That trend only looks to be continuing in The Fate of the Furious, with F. Gary Gray taking over following the critical acclaim he received for his work on the N.W.A. biopic, Straight Outta Compton.

Gary Gray already looks to be bringing the same ability to create blood-pumping action sequences in Compton in The Fate of the Furious as well, with the film’s trailer only appearing to tease just a small amount of the actual scope of the film’s set piece moments. So with that being said, whether or not its extra-long, rumored run time winds up being true, it’s clear that both Gary Gray and the studio have some big ideas in mind for The Fate of the Furious. Considering that it already sits close to the top of the list in terms of popular, contemporary action franchises nowadays too, that’s saying something.

Source: Universal Pictures

  • Fast and Furious 8 Release Date: 2017-04-14