For all his success as a worldwide box office attraction, Dwayne Johnson has yet to lead his own movie franchise. That's all about to change.
Early in his career, Johnson appeared The Mummy Returns, which was a huge success, and then starred in the spin-off movie The Scorpion King, which was a more modest success. By the time he made his first appearance as Diplomatic Security Service agent Luke Hobbs, first in Fast Five (2011), he was an established star who gave the Fast and Furious franchise a welcome jolt of energy. In subsequent years, even as he's costarred in the next three installments, his own headline status has continued to rise.
As we heard recently, he and Jason Statham will star in a spin-off movie revolving around their Fast and Furious characters. Now Johnson has spilled some additional plans for the first spin-off and beyond.
In a new social media post, Johnson says that Universal Studios approached him about the spin-off idea years ago. He says: "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. I want to use my spinoff platform to create new characters that fans will ultimately love to have fun with in multiple chapters and platforms."
Naturally, that leads to speculation about which fellow Fast and Furious cast members may be invited along on Johnson's ride. Will there be a crossover between the main franchise and the spin-off movies?
Recent additions to the team, such as Nathalie Emmanuel's hacktivist character Ramsey, Scott Eastwood, who worked with Kurt Russell's shadowy character, or Luke Evans, who played the brother of Jason Statham's character, are more likely than longtime core members of the team, but writer Chris Morgan has often brought back unexpected characters from the past. Really, anything could happen.
The spin-off movie is due in theaters on July 26, 2019.
