After years of being in development — throw in squabbles and meltdowns from other members of the supposed Fast and Furious family — Dwayne Johnson took to Instagram to officially announce the start of production of Hobbs and Shaw. The movie is a spin-off of the Fast and Furious franchise and will star Johnson and Jason Statham, both of whom will reprise their roles, Luke Hobbs and Deckard Shaw, respectively, in the movie.

Hobbes and Shaw finally made it. The spinoff movie has been in development over the last few years, and it’s had no shortage of drama and controversy attached to it. Remember Tyrese Gibson’s surreal meltdown on social media? That was brought about, in part, by Dwayne Johnson signing on for this movie. Speaking of beefs, let’s not forget the fallout from Johnson’s infamous beef with Vin Diesel, which dominated the news just as Fast 8: The Fate of the Furious hit theaters last year.

Through all the drama and controversies, Universal Studios remained steadfast in its plan to spin-off the Fast and Furious franchise. It’s a good move to do it, too. In fact, Fast and Furious held the record for the biggest worldwide opening in history when it earned almost $542 million. That record has since been broken by The Fate of the Furious, which earned over $640 million. Universal understood that the franchise still has life well beyond the ninth and tenth installments of the films. A spin-off made the most sense to capitalize on the interest people still have in the franchise. And who better to star in it than the most bankable actor in the world today.

. Leitch, for those who don’t know, directed Avengers: Infinity War, one of this year’s biggest blockbuster movies. In addition to Leitch, the movie’s screenplay is written by Chris Morgan, the same writer who’s responsible for the stories of five of the eight Fast and Furious movies, specifically Deadpool 2, Fast and Furious, Tokyo Drift, Fast Five, and Fast and Furious 6

Speaking of which, the story of Furious 7 has not been revealed yet, but it will take place within the entire Fast and Furious universe. The secrecy behind the storyline is expected, especially when you’re talking about a potential blockbuster that can steer the entire F&F franchise to a new direction. Given its place in the F&F universe, we can expect that some of the movie’s regulars might make appearances or cameos in the spin-off. Perhaps Vin Diesel will show up, too.

Barring production delays, Furious 7 will hit theaters on July 26, 2019.

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Hobbs and Shaw