Fast and Furious spinoffs in the works

Universal Pictures Chairman Donna Langley confirmed that talks were taking place about ways to broaden the series' reach.

The Fast and Furious franchise may take a page from Star Wars and Marvel. Producer and star Vin Diesel says that the team behind the fast cars and criminals series is in the preliminary stages of developing prequels and spinoffs. "We've written out story lines for various characters," said Diesel. "We've been playing with it for a long time. It's a very rich property and we're committed to treating it with a lot of class."
The actor did not say which characters would get their own standalone films, but in the past, Dwayne Johnson has hinted that he'd like to see his character, Diplomatic Security Service agent Luke Hobbs, branch out into independent adventures. If the actors are game for some universe building it sounds like the studio is willing to back the projects. Universal Pictures Chairman Donna Langley confirmed that talks were taking place about ways to broaden the series' reach. "We're certainly in conversations about how we can expand the franchise now," said Langley. "It's an ensemble cast and there's room to bring characters in and out." If Universal does go forward with launching spinoffs and prequels, it will be aping a strategy successfully employed by the Avengers movies and one being embraced by Star Wars, which is augmenting a new trilogy with origin stories focused on Han Solo and others. For now, however, the focus remains on creating three more Fast and Furious sequels. Diesel and Universal brass promise that the upcoming films will be different in tone from the adventures that preceded them.
That's why the studio brought in F. Gary Gray, the director of Straight Outta Compton to guide the eighth film in the series. "We have a director who is going to bring the darkness out and bring out the character," said Diesel.