For a franchise filled with testosterone-fuelled action and death-defying stunts, it’s a wonder Universal’s Fast and Furious series hasn’t encountered any internal drama – any speedbumps – throughout its saga.
But that all changed soon after the arrival of The Fate of the Furious, at which point Universal – and, more specifically, Dwayne Johnson – outlined plans to launch a bona fide spinoff, which we now know to be Hobbs & Shaw. That’s all well and good, but it quickly became apparent that Johnson’s standalone project irked Vin Diesel and Tyrese Gibson, two of the original stars of the Fast and Furious series.
Cue a Fast feud, the likes of which we’ve never seen before. And while it seemed as though things had died down post-Fate of the Furious, Gibson took to Instagram last week with some choice words about Hobbs & Shaw, its box office performance, and Dwayne Johnson’s decision to spin out a new film independent from the Fast and Furious series.
Fast forward to August 14th, and we now have a response from The Rock (sort of), who posted the following to his own Instagram account.
Thank you everyone for makin’ this an exciting first week of box office for our lil’ spin-off @hobbsandshaw. #1 movie and $333M worldwide, ain’t too shabby. And remember, the best way to shut the mouth of a [clown] is to flex with success and a smile.
And while we don’t like to cast aspersions, it doesn’t take a soothsayer to realize that Dwayne Johnson’s carefully-worded Instagram post includes a subtle dig at Tyrese Gibson, particularly after the latter called out Hobbs & Shaw‘s box office. I guess the ball is now in Gibson’s court? Frankly, we’d much prefer if the Fast family kissed and made up…
The Fast and Furious franchise has evolved under the stewardship of Dwayne Johnson and Co., but Universal’s flagship series will soon return home – to the Toretto household – for the so-far untitled Fast and Furious 9. It’ll be followed swiftly by a 10th (and presumably final) installment in the saga, though whether Dwayne Johnson and Tyrese Gibson are able to bury the hatchet is another question entirely.