It’s been a rocky week for the Fast & Furious “fam.” Shortly after the announcement was made that the film’s ninth installment would be pushed back from its original date of April 2019 to April 10, 2020, drama quickly ensued, with star Tyrese Gibson taking to social media to throw jabs at the man he claimed was the cause of the hold-up: Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.
Things got even more heated when yet another of the film’s stars, Vin Diesel, appeared to be taking sides in the feud, uploading a shot of himself next to Gibson and the late Paul Walker, which was simply captioned, “Brotherhood.”
Now, the Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol 2 actor is not only clearing the air, but giving hope to fans that some good will come about from the conflict.
Sharing a picture of himself holding Johnson up, he wrote the following. “Brotherhood… and all its complexities,” he began. “This scene was filmed in Puerto Rico, I can remember it like it was yesterday. Such a beautiful island, the people were so warm and welcoming. I turned 43 that summer… and my son Vincent was born. A woman named Jan Kelly responded to a question I had asked on Facebook, ‘Who would they like to see me work with?’ She said she would love to see me work with Dwayne… I listened to her request and he became Hobbs,” he recalled.
Things got really interesting from there, however, when Diesel, now 50, both offered up his thoughts on the spat and teased something exciting to come. “I know there has been a lot of speculation as to why the Fast 9 release date was pushed… but it would be unfair to say it is anyone’s fault,” he said. “As we plot the course to expand the Fast & Furious universe, one must be mindful to take stock of the roads we took to get here. The pillars of authenticity, family, and most importantly, our loyal fans’ perspective has been instrumental in procuring success,” he expressed.
“However, like any vehicle that has run around the globe eight times, the franchise is in need of maintenance. My good friend and the godfather of Universal, Ron Meyer, has granted me the time to do just that. We have some exciting news to share soon… stay tuned. Yours truly, Dom. #FamilyAlways.”
Wait… so does this mean it was Diesel, and not Johnson, who held up production on the franchise?
We’re not entirely sure, but Gibson does seem to have cooled off a bit — his only comment on the debacle since the post has been to say that he’s focusing on his “day job” and booking plenty of shows.
Johnson, who has made no public comment on the situation, seems to be busy with other things as well, posting pics from the set of his new film, Skyscraper.
Fingers crossed the drama ends here!
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(Photo via Alberto E. Rodriguez + Kevin Winter/Getty)