The "Fast and Furious" franchise is going to expand its cinematic realm as it is going to have its spin-off films, which will focus on the characters' story.
Vin Diesel plays the role of Dominic Toretto in the previous "Fast and Furious" film installments. In his interview with Variety, Diesel said that he and the team had written out story lines for the different characters of the action car racing film. The actor added that they had been playing with it for a long time.
For Diesel, "Fast and Furious" was a very rich property and they were committed to treating it with a lot of class.
According to Cinema Blend, it was about time for the "Fast and Furious" characters to have the cinematic adaptation of their life adventures and stories, which diverge from the main narrative branch in previous films. Through exploring the bits of their lives, the audience would be able to know them more, as well as to relate with them and understand their personalities and how they got into the team.
The plan revealed by Diesel was not new for the "Fast and Furious" franchise. As per Cinema Blend, the franchise's third film, "The Fast & The Furious Tokyo Drift," showcased events that were not within the main story timeline and chronicled side characters. Since the franchise has made this kind of strategy of storytelling, then setting up spin-off films for various characters would not be that hard.
Aside from F. Gary Gray's upcoming "Furious 8," Diesel is also set to appear in James Gunn's superhero sci-fi "Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 2," D.J. Caruso's action thriller film "xXx: The Return of Xander Cage," Ang Lee's war drama "Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk," and Marvel's "Inhumans."
"Furious 8" also stars Dwayne Johnson, Jason Statham, Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, and Ludacris. It is slated to premiere in theaters in the United States on Apr. 14, 2017.