When Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson proposed plans to spin out multiple solo movies from the core Fast and Furious franchise, Universal’s family was, ahem, rocked.
So much so, in fact, that Vin Diesel and Tyrese Gibson, two of the franchise’s long-running stars, reportedly clashed with Johnson on more than one occasion, citing concerns that his spinoff would effectively derail the Fast and Furious series as we know it. Alas, Dwayne Johnson was still able to spearhead an offshoot of his own, which we now know to be Hobbs & Shaw, the action-fuelled blockbuster that’s currently enjoying a relatively successful rollout across the globe.
Not one to mask his opinions, Tyrese Gibson had some choice words for Johnson and his Hobbs & Shaw movie, which he channeled into a now-deleted Instagram post, which read:
I have to show my respects for one thing…. He tried…….. Folks called me a hater…. Attacked me for speaking out…..Breaking up the family clearly doesn’t have the value that one would assume it does. ‘Hobbs & Shaw’ Has Lowest ‘Fast & Furious’ Box Office Opening Since ‘Tokyo Drift… You know what maybe just maybe… The Rock and the crew will come dance with us again for #Fast10 we can all hug it out and get back to giving the true fans who have supported this franchise for 20 years what they want……..No hating I’m just pointing out the facts. #FastFamily has more value as the #FastFamily it’s ok.
Per Box Office Mojo, a $60 million domestic debut places Hobbs & Shaw in the same ballpark as Tokyo Drift ($62M), which is less than half of Furious 7‘s historic opening weekend ($141M). The Dwayne Johnson-powered spinoff will no doubt collect most of its revenue overseas, but its $200M budget has come under some scrutiny.
Hobbs & Shaw is now playing in theaters worldwide, with Fast and Furious 9 and 10 due to open in 2020 and 2021, respectively. Franchise veteran Justin Lin is returning to the director’s chair for what will be the final two installments in the core saga, though whether Universal really draws the curtain on this lucrative juggernaut is up for debate.