It’s been a whirlwind week for the Toretto crew. Just as F. Gary Gray’s Fast 8 nears the finish line, reports emerged of an alleged bust-up between Dwayne Johnson and another producer on the blockbuster sequel – and it didn’t take long for those clues to point in the direction of series stalwart Vin Diesel.
The drama can be traced back to one of The Rock’s many Instagram posts, where he called out some unnamed male counterparts – unnamed male counterparts he labelled “candy asses.”
Here’s an extract from Johnson’s online rant: “some [of my male counterparts] conduct themselves as stand up men and true professionals, while others don’t. The ones that don’t are too chicken s**t to do anything about it anyway. Candy a**es. When you watch this movie next April and it seems like I’m not acting in some of these scenes and my blood is legit boiling — you’re right.”
[zergpaid]It didn’t take long before reports claimed Diesel and Johnson were the two at loggerheads, considering that both hold a creative say on Fast 8 as producers. Perhaps most surprising of all is that, amid all of the excitement, testosterone and baby oil pumped into the series, it’s taken eight films for creative differences to rear their ugly head.
As of today, August 12, things appeared to have cooled down; Vin Diesel took to Instagram to post one final message from set, promising fans he will “tell everything” in due time. Dwayne Johnson, meanwhile, appeared to put a lid on the kerfuffle with a second post.
“You guys reading this know how much I believe in the idea of TEAM EFFORT. That means respecting every person, their time and their value when they step on to my set or partner with our production company. And like with any team – that’s a family – there’s gonna be conflict. Family is gonna have differences of opinion and fundamental core beliefs. To me, conflict can be a good thing, when its followed by great resolution.
Also starring Michelle Rodriguez, Jordana Brewster, Tyrese Gibson, Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, Elsa Pataky, Nathalie Emmanuel, Lucas Black, Jason Statham, Kurt Russell, Suicide Squad‘s Scott Eastwood, Kristofer Hivju, Helen Mirren and Charlize Theron as all-new baddie Cipher, Fast 8 makes a beeline for theaters on April 14, 2017.