The new Fast and Furious spinoff that focuses on Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham’s characters could be helmed by Deadpool 2 director David Leitch, according to Variety. Leitch is in talks with Universal to take on the role of director for the currently untitled project.
In the new spinoff Johnson and Statham will reprise their characters of agent Luke Hobbs and criminal Deckard Shaw. The original announcement of the film spurred drama between Johnson and Tyrese, who was salty about how this film affected the production scheduled of the ninth Fast and Furious movie. Fast and Furious number nine was pushed to a 2020 release date because of the new Johnson-centered project.
"I just got a problem with Dwayne," he told TMZ in October. "It appears he's being selfish. It appears he's so focused on furthering his own self interests, he's making decisions from the seat that he's sitting in."
Leitch is also known for directing John Wick and Atomic Blonde. Leitch’s Deadpool 2 is currently in post production and is set to release this coming May.
The script for the new Fast and the Furious spinoff was turned in at the beginning of the year by the franchise’s screenwriter Chris Morgan and the film is scheduled to start shooting in August. The spinoff is expected to hit theaters on July 26, 2019.
