Kurt Russell Talks ‘Fast & Furious 7′ & Why He Won’t Appear in ‘The Expendables’

The tragic death of Paul Walker was a huge blow to his family, friends and fans around the world. The event also necessitated a delay in the release of Fast and Furious 7, the latest installment of Walker’s signature franchise, as Universal Studios, the producers and director James Wan revised the script to include a respectful retirement of Walker’s character, Brian O’Connor. Now that we know their general plan, resulting in a delay of the film until April 2015, news on the Fast and Furious has mostly gone silent. The more recent news has more or less overshadowed many other aspects of the production, including the presence of Death Proof star Kurt Russell, whose as-yet-undisclosed character will be introduced in Fast and Furious 7 with a storyline which will supposedly carry over to the eighth film.

Fast And Furious 8: Everything We Know

Movies that earn more than $1 billion worldwide tend to produce sequels. As such, Furious 8 was a no-brainer. Yet, the ridiculously lucrative Furious 7, ended with real closure, and raised some burning questions. Can the series continue following the death of Paul Walker? Should the series tell more stories in the lives of these now iconic screen characters, or is it time to let the Fast & Furious crew drive off into the sunset on one of the highest notes in franchise history? That conversation is ongoing, but at least we have a definitive answer. Vin Diesel took to the stage of CinemaCon recently and confirmed that Fast & Furious 8 is happening, and will reach theaters on April 14, 2017. It’s definitely happening! But there remain a ton of questions about who will be involved both in front of and behind the camera. Let’s dig in to all that we already know about the upcoming Fast & Furious sequel:

The Kurt Russell Connection It bears repeating that Furious 7 always was going to be the start of a new trilogy of Fast films, though that plan was changed once Paul Walker died. James Wan confirmed that the original ending of Furious 7 would have led to new stories. But the first real hint we got about Fast & Furious 8 came when Vin Diesel appeared on the Jimmy Kimmel show and revealed that supreme badass Kurt Russell was added to part seven as a tease for what the crew wanted to do in part eight. And Vin spoke in the present tense, saying that Russell’s covert character, Mr. Nobody, would be a catalyst for events that would follow through in Fast & Furious 8. Now, Walker likely was going to be part of that adventure, and now will not be. But that doesn’t mean the show can’t go on.

The New York Setting In the same clip, Vin Diesel dropped the interesting nugget that the crew would shift their mission for (or against) Mr. Nobody to the streets of New York City. Which, in my opinion, is fantastic. The Fast & Furious movies always have been an L.A.-based franchise, and Diesel delivered on his promise to return the series to Southern California with Furious 7. But a series that has stopped in so many amazing global cities has yet to invade the Big Apple, and I want to see Toretto’s crew try to stay fast in midtown Manhattan traffic. (The "furious" part won’t be difficult. New Yorkers are always mad about something.) In a recent conversation, The Rock told the media that they wanted to give Furious 7 time to breathe, and to succeed, but that they were "up for the challenge" of doing Furious 8. And Diesel chimed in that F8 sounds like "Fate," something he said Walker always believed.

Justin Lin’s Return James Wan was an unusual choice to helm Furious 7 after Justin Lin decided not to come back after directing multiple Fast films. Wan primarily was known as a horror guy, and his lone foray into "action" – the Kevin Bacon drama Death Sentence -- went largely unseen. It’s very possible that Wan could come back to direct a Fast & Furious 8, especially given the success of Furious 7. But a few months back, a story broke on Deadline that Lin would return to the series to direct a multi-part finale. Wan even said in a recent interview that Justin Lin would be the perfect choice to bring the series to a close. This plan still could be in place, though Lin is about to board the U.S.S. Enterprise as the director of Star Trek 3, so Universal might have to put their red-hot series on ice for a bit if they want to wait or Lin’s services. Would that be a good idea?

Lucas Black’s Contract Those paying attention to the Fast & Furious timeline synch couldn’t have been that surprised to see Lucas’ Black’s Tokyo Drift hero, Sean Boswell, return to the screen. Furious 6 revealed that Han was killed by Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham), so Dom pitstopped to Tokyo to meet with Sean, get information on this new threat, and bring Han’s body back to Los Angeles for a proper burial. At the time, Black revealed that he had signed up for Fast & Furious parts 7, 8 and 9. Again, plans for the series seem fluid, but if Black was a part of the future story before, I see no reason to think he couldn’t be part of the next two chapters, at least. Drift on!

The Eva Mendes Rumor So far, the Fast & Furious films have made a habit out of bringing familiar faces back into the fold. Michelle Rodriguez was believed to be dead before returning for Fast & Furious 6. We just mentioned Lucas Black, and his presence in Furious 7. So with the timeline realigned now, it makes sense that a recent rumor suggests the return of Eva Mendes’s character, U.S. Customs Agent Monica Fuentes, be brought back into the story. As we learned in Furious 7, Dom and his crew now runs in criminal circles that involve the federal government – or, shadow arms of the government operated by the likes of Mr. Nobody. This could open up several doors for the Furious crew to either have to help Fuentes… or avoid her. Maybe the God’s Eye MacGuffin from the latest movie will put Toretto on Fuentes’ radar? Maybe Mr. Nobody has a new job for Dom? I think Fast & Furious 8 will happen, particularly after Furious 7 just broke the bank. Do you? source: http://www.cinemablend.com/

Furious 7 Director Will Bring Robotech To The Big Screen

Most of James Wan’s directorial career has been spent plugging away in the realm of relatively low-budget horror. That’s changed now that he helmed Furious 7, which has earned more than a billion dollars and climbing, as he’s being mentioned in tandem with tons of big-time projects, and the latest appears to be Robotech. According to Deadline, Wan, who cut his teeth on the Saw franchise, is in talks with Sony Pictures to take the reins on the long in development live-action Robotech movie. Wan is a hot commodity in Hollywood at the moment. He plans to direct The Conjuring 2, and has been linked to Warner Bros. and DC’s upcoming Aquaman solo movie, which will star Jason Momoa—he’s never taken a dip in the superhero pool before. Not to mention, we don’t really know if he’s on board for more Fast & Furious movies. If these all pan out, it could be a while before he’s free to take on Robotech, but the trade’s sources say he and Sony are both pushing hard to make this work. Robotech is one of those properties that has been on the verge of being adapted for years, and Sony is the latest studio to try their luck with the franchise. They picked up the rights about a month ago with an eye on turning it into one of those big, expansive universes that are all the rage right now in Tinseltown. Everyone wants their version of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and maybe Wan can lend a hand. Dating back to the early 1980s, the Robotech brand includes multiple animated shows, books, comics, role playing games, movies, and some seriously kickass toys. You have to imagine that, if this happens and is successful, Sony would like to create a product stream like that of their very own, and the potential is certainly there, with a wealth of storylines and characters to mine for material. As far as the story goes, the people of Earth discover the remains of an alien spaceship in the South Pacific and develop giant shape shifting mechanical suits to defend the world against a string of invaders from space. What we’ve heard is that a potential plot focuses on two hotshot young pilots who are likely untested and rebellious of spirit, but also humanities last hope. There is potential to create something really cool with Robotech. Not only could you turn out a visually epic movie—how can you not get giddy at the prospect of giant planes with legs running around fighting aliens?—there is rich thematic ground to explore as well, like the idea of technology as both a savior and a downfall of humanity, for one. That’s as timely now as it ever was. source: http://www.cinemablend.com/

Fast & Furious 7 Originally Had A Different Ending Before Paul Walker Died

Those of us who watched Furious 7 in theaters this past weekend were treated to a touching tribute to the late Paul Walker at the end. Director James Wan and his crew used a combination of CGI, Wiz Khalifa’s "See You Again" and a montage of scenes from all the Fast and Furious films to give their brother a proper sendoff. Though this moment brought many a tear to audiences around the world, Wan recently opened up about the ending that was originally planned prior to Walker’s tragic death. Speaking with Collider, Wan said that the ending had originally served a much different purpose. The original ending of Furious 7 was setting up, you know, the bigger world of where the Fast and Furious franchise could go into. And that’s obviously very smart of them to think so. But when the tragedy happened, all of that became irrelevant. So it did not matter anymore, all of that stuff. And to the studio’s credit, they did not push for that. They realized how important it was to make a movie that finishes and that just outright is a tribute to Paul Walker. So I give them a lot of credit for being bigger than that and going along with this ending that is the right ending to go with. Walker was taken from the world too soon after a car accident in 2013. The actor had already filmed the majority of his scenes, which prompted the release to be pushed out of 2014 and the studio utilizing various methods to finish production. Walker’s brothers, Cody and Caleb, were enlisted to help finish his remaining scenes, and CGI was used to bring Walker back for the Furious 7 ending. If you haven’t seen it, get a tissue, because Universal released the music video for "See You Again" that features footage from the scene. As Walker’s co-star and on-screen wife Jordana Brewster told HuffPost Live, none of the cast members were sure they’d return to the franchise following the death. So far, Furious 7 has performed better than expected at the box office, becoming the Fast and Furious film with the highest-grossing opening weekend and taking in the most dough of any film with an early Thursday premiere. Fast and Furious 8 seems like a sure thing, but Brewster is still unsure whether she would return as Mia. For now, she’s leaving it up to the fans. Diesel, on the other hand, has already begun teasing where the next installment will go. Though it’s not official yet, start prepping for some New York City street action. source: http://www.cinemablend.com/

Furious 7 - Extended First Look (2015) HD

Furious 7 - Official Theatrical Trailer (2015) HD

Fast & Furious 7