Hobbs and Shaw is set to hit theaters in 2019, and the Fast and the Furious franchise spin-off promises to give fans lots more of the high-octane action they love.
Hobbs and Shaw will expand the universe of the Fast and the Furious by shifting focus from Vin Diesel’s character, Dominic Torretto, and his racing crew, to Luke Hobbs and Deckard Shaw portrayed by the duo of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Jason Stratham.
Universal Pictures is currently filming Hobbs and Shaw in the U.K., with the movie directed by David Leitch. Ahead of the release date, we look at everything known so far about the upcoming Fast and Furious spinoff.
Hobbs and Shaw release date
Hobbs and Shaw was originally scheduled to open in theaters on July 26, 2019, but Universal Studios moved the date to August 2, 2019.
Some observers suggested that the decision to move Hobbs and Shaw to August 2 was probably due to concern about The Lion King which debuts on July 19, 2019. But the new August release date actually brings Hobbs and Shaw into direct box office competition with Fox’s X-Men spinoff, the New Mutants, also set to be released on August 2, 2019.
Artemis Fowl and Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood are also scheduled to be released in theaters a week later on August 9. The two movies will also attract a portion of the demographic expected to come out to see Hobbs and Shaw.
Paramount Pictures’ Dora the Explorer, the upcoming live action adaptation of the Nickelodeon children series of the same name directed by James Bobin, is scheduled for release in theaters on August 2, 2019. But the family-friendly movie won’t significantly impact Hobbs and Shaw’s box office performance.
The release of Hobbs and Shaw in 2019 will be followed by the release of Fast and Furious 9 in 2020. Fast and Furious 9 is currently scheduled for released on April 10, 2020.
The final instalment of the Fast and Furious series, Fast and Furious 10, is reportedly scheduled for release in 2021.
Hobbs and Shaw details
Hobbs and Shaw is a spin-off of the Fast and the Furious Film series, the sixth-highest grossing movie franchise of all time. The movie features two Fast and Furious characters, Luke Hobbs and Deckard Shaw in leading roles.
According to producer Neal Mortiz, the franchise organizers decided to greenlight Hobbs and Shaw as a Fast and Furious spinoff after observing the chemistry between the characters in Furious 7 (2015) and The Fate of the Furious (2017).
“Filming the past couple of movies, we’d see these scenes between The Rock and Jason Statham. But because these movies have so many characters, we’d say, ‘We wish we could have more scenes of that relationship,’ but there was only so much screen time,” Mortiz told The Hollywood Reporter. “So we started talking about a spinoff. It just seemed a natural place to go.”
Hobbs and Shaw will now give Johnson and Statham’s characters the opportunity to explore their unique dynamic outside the main Fast and the Furious series.
Hobbs and Shaw is written by Chris Morgan and directed by David Leitch.
Morgan isn’t new to the Fast and the Furious universe. He has written every Fast and Furious movie since The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006).
Leitch is known for having co-directed John Wick (2014). He also directed Atomic Blonde (2017) and Deadpool 2 (2018).
Before Leitch signed on to direct Hobbs and Shaw, Shane Black (Lethal Weapon, Iron Man 3 and The Predator) had initially expressed interest in directing the film, but later dropped out and moved on to other projects.
Johnson announced that filming of Hobbs and Shaw had started in London, England, on September 10, 2018, but he arrived in London on September 24, after completing his role in Jungle Cruise.
The Daily Mail reported on October 24 that filming of Hobbs and Shaw had moved from London to Glasgow, Scotland. Although Johnson and Statham were absent from the filming, their stunt doubles were seen performing dangerous stunts on the streets of Glasgow.
John Street in Glasgow today as a week of filming for Fast and Furious spin-off movie Hobbs and Shaw gets underway. pic.twitter.com/MY48JHZe8B
— reGlasgow (@reglasgow_web) October 23, 2018
EXCLUSIVE: Jason Statham spotted on the set of Fast and Furious spin-off #HobbsandShaw filming in Glasgow. pic.twitter.com/iTLjYO6Wx1
— Stephen Carroll (@StephenTweeted) October 23, 2018
The Chase …..
Hobbs & Shaw movie set Glasgow ….#HobbsAndShaw #photography #Movie #Glasgow https://t.co/m48qZfBATL pic.twitter.com/1MMGI789l9— John McCarney (@Glasgowbud1965) October 24, 2018
Hundreds of Glaswegians gathered to watch them racing in a sports car through the narrow streets of the Scottish city, while camera men filmed under the supervision of Director Leitch.
Hobbs and Shaw teasers, set photos and trailers
Universal Pictures has not released an official trailer for Hobbs and Shaw, but with the release scheduled for August 2019, fans can expect the first official trailer to be released in a few months.
We will update readers by adding the trailer when it is released.
Ahead of the release of the first official trailer for the upcoming Fast and the Furious spinoff, Johnson released a teaser on his Instagram in October 2017.
He also released the first photo from the set of the film on September 10, 2018.
The photo shows Johnson and Statham together on the set of the film standing next to a high-end sports car.
Johnson also took to Instagram on October 21 to share with fans a photo of himself in the gym. He talked about how hard he’d been working to prepare for his role in the upcoming Fast and the Furious spinoff. He shared that he had increased weight to 260 pounds of muscles.
Hobbs and Shaw cast
Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham will reprise their respective roles as Luke Hobbs, a former Diplomatic Security Service agent, and Deckard Shaw, a former Special Forces assassin.
Deckard Shaw is the brother of the Fast and Furious villain Owen, played by Luke Evans. Fans of the Fast and Furious series will also recall that Magdalene, the mother of Deckard and Owen, played by Dame Helen Mirren, appeared briefly in The Fate of the Furious.
Johnson first appeared as Hobbs in Fast Five (2011), the fifth instalment of the Fast and the Furious franchise directed by Justin Lin and written by Chris Morgan.
Who needs The Rock? Luther star Idris Elba will thrill Scots movie fans by filming Fast N Furious spin-off Hobbs and Shaw in Glasgow https://t.co/QtmQAFZ0le pic.twitter.com/vi62MhpmLL
— Scotland Productions (@ScotlandPro) October 24, 2018
Shaw debuted in the mid-credits of Fast & Furious 6 (2013).
Hobbs and Shaw first crossed paths as adversaries in Furious 7 (2015), but teamed up to face a common enemy in The Fate of the Furious (2017) when they found themselves together in prison.
Johnson confirmed on July 3, 2018, that Vanessa Kirby, who played Princess Margaret in The Crown (TV series 2016- ), was joining the Hobbs and Shaw cast to play M15 agent Gabby Shaw, Deckard and Owen’s sister.
Welcome the very talented @VanessaKirby to our “HOBBS & SHAW” Fast & Furious spin-off. We chopped it up and we had some GREAT chemistry together. She’s a sharp one – this is gonna be fun! #Kirby #HobbsAndShaw
https://t.co/c8ciKipMGw— Dwayne Johnson (@TheRock) July 3, 2018
Johnson also confirmed on July 5 that Idris Elba was joining the cast to play the main villain role.
Elba will play Brixton, an international terrorist and crime lord.
Elba has played major villain roles in the past. He played the role of a ruthless warlord, the Commandant, in the Netflix hit Beast of No Nation (2015). He also played the brutal warlord Krall in Star Trek Beyond (2016), and voiced the tiger Shere Khan in The Jungle Book (2016).
I promised we were going to make this Fast & Furious spin off awesome and grow our franchise properly. He’s a bad man (legit bad ass). I better toughen up ?? #HobbsAndShaw https://t.co/oERduIlTwz
— Dwayne Johnson (@TheRock) July 5, 2018
The all-round villainy of Elba’s character will likely force Hobbs and Shaw to team up again.
Hobbs and Shaw plot
Not much is currently known about the details of the plot of Hobbs and Shaw, but Director Leitch recently gave hints about what fans can expect.
He hinted that Hobbs and Shaw will have “some of the DNA” of Fast and the Furious, a statement which fans understood to mean there will be plenty of furious car chases, stunts and gritty action.
Leitch also shared that they are aiming to introduce fans to a new story, plot and a world that is different from the Fast and Furious film series.
“There’s obviously some of the DNA of the Fast universe,” Leitch told Collider. “But what we really want to do is create something fresh and different for these characters, and dive into their world. Hobbs and Shaw come from the agent-and-spy world. It’s obviously about their banter and their relationship, but it’s more about expanding their world and their connections, and creating a family in a slightly different universe. It’s going to be fun.”
Family will also likely be a theme in the film since Kirby’s character Gabby is Shaw’s sister.
When Leitch was asked if Hobbs and Shaw was a prelude to a new franchise or a standalone, he said it was intended to launch a new franchise.
“You do want to seed elements that allow you to expand the universe and have enough characters to move forward,” he told Collider. “If you look at the first Fast, they had the core group that allowed them to be able to have this ensemble that moved forward for nine movies. We have to set up the world so it has the potential to grow.”
Regarding crossovers between Hobbs and Shaw franchise and Fast and the Furious, he said there could be crossovers between both franchises in the future.
“I think it would be a fun nod to have a couple of the characters come by and make their appearances,” he said. “But I think we have a really strong point of view that we want to create our own characters for this world.”
Dwayne @TheRock Johnson just finished 18 weeks of training for #HobbsandShaw. Here's how the star looks now for the #FastandFurious spinoff. https://t.co/c3q5ZecUs2
— Men's Journal + Fitness (@mjfit) October 25, 2018
He added that the plot and storyline of film, the first instalment in the anticipated Hobbs and Shaw film series, would be “more grounded” because it will focus on telling an origin story that lays the foundation for a new film series.
“I think it’s going to be a little bit more grounded because it’s the beginning,” he said. “It’s an origin story, in a sense… we’re starting a franchise. So we want it to be a little bit more grounded, a little bit more character-centric.”
“We’re going to set up the stakes for these guys and their relationship,” he continued, “but we’re also going to have some great set pieces and some action that you’d expect from that type of franchise.”
Not great shot little bit filming underway in Glasgow for new film Hobbs and Shaw (fast furious spin off @TheRock @jasonstatham pic.twitter.com/6qBCD038wt
— ?Lynn Connolly? (@lynnc1080) October 23, 2018
Leitch’s comments about a possible crossover between the two franchises have led to speculation about the possibility of Tyrese Gibson appearing in the upcoming film.
Of course, fans are aware of the ongoing feud between Johnson and Gibson, who played Roman Pearce in Fast and Furious.
The announcement by Universal Pictures that a Fast and the Furious spinoff centered on Luke Hobbs and Deckard Shaw was in the works sparked a response on Instagram from Gibson.
Gibson accused Johnson of being selfish by making a spinoff that forced a delay in the release of Fast and Furious 9.
Johnson addressed questions about his feud with Gibson during an appearance on Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen in July 2018.
When a caller asked Johnson if he’d spoken to Gibson since their feud erupted publicly, he said he hadn’t but expressed regret about it, saying they used to be good friends.
The Rock’s October 9, 2017 Instagram post in which he appeared to go out of his way to emphasize that he had been generous about giving new actors role opportunities in Hobbs and Shaw was apparently his way of responding to Gibson’s accusation that he was being selfish about making a new Fast and Furious spinonff with Statham.
“I have a tremendous amount of respect for this franchise that I’ve enjoyed droppin’ blood and sweat in over the years and my vision is to create greater opportunities for not only my fellow FF cast mates, but for other amazing actors as well who want to be a part of something new and cool,” Johnson wrote on Instagram.
“I want to use my spin-off platform to create new characters that fans will ultimately love to have fun with in multiple chapters and platforms… the more opportunities we can create, the better for the fans,” he continued. “Smart business. Let’s have some fun and to quote, Hobbs the boss, if you don’t like it, we’re happy to beat that ass like a Cherokee drum. ”
The Rock and Gibson will have to end their beef before Gibson can appear in Hobbs and Shaw.
Similarly, fans won’t be seeing Vin Diesel in the Hobbs and Shaw film series until the feud that broke out between Diesel and Johnson on the set of The Fate and the Furious is resolved. Johnson admitted to Rolling Stone that he had a spat with Diesel. He said he and Diesel had a “fundamental difference in philosophies on how we approach moviemaking and collaboration.”
Meanwhile, there is no word yet that Johnson and Statham have signed on for Fast and Furious 9 or that their characters Luke Hobbs and Deckard Shaw will appear in the film.