LOS ANGELES – Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson is returning for an as-yet-untitled Fast & Furious movie as Luke Hobbs, after bowing out of the successful franchise in 2021 due to differences with star Vin Diesel.

“Hobbs is back in the Fast and Furious franchise,” said the 51-year-old actor in a video message posted on Twitter from Hawaii on Thursday (June1).

“The next Fast & Furious film you’ll see the legendary lawman in will be the Hobbs movie that will serve as a fresh, new chapter and set up for Fast X: Part II,” added Johnson who was wearing a lei in the video.

The Fast & Furious films (2001 to present) has collected more than US$7 billion (S$9.45 billion) at global box offices, making it the fifth-highest-grossing franchise of all time.

The latest movie, Fast X starring Diesel and Jason Momoa, debuted last month and landed the second-largest global opening weekend of the year, only surpassed by another Universal title, The Super Mario Bros. Movie. It has earned more than US$500 million at global box offices.

The feud between Diesel and Johnson began back in 2016, when the latter posted a now-deleted rant on Instagram, calling out some of his unnamed male co-stars in The Fate Of The Furious (2017) as “candy a*****” and “chicken s***”.

It was widely believed at the time that he was talking about Diesel.

In another interview in October 2021, Johnson, who appeared in the fifth to eighth films in the franchise, said he should not have shared the post, although he still meant what he said.

But Johnson and Diesel have put the episode behind them.

“Last summer, Vin and I put all the past behind us. We’ll lead with brotherhood and resolve - and always take care of the franchise, characters & fans that we love,” he said in his post.

The Moana (2016) actor went on to explain that he has an “audience first mentality” when it comes to his career and sends love to the entire “Fast family”.

Franchise veteran writer Chris Morgan will return to oversee the script for the upcoming project and develop Johnson’s portrayal of the daring diplomatic security service agent he has played in previous films. 

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Source: Reuters