When is The Fate of the Furious coming out in the UK? Release date, cast and trailer – here’s all you need to know
The eighth Fast and the Furious movie hits UK cinemas TODAY - so what's it about and who's in it?
ACTION fans, rejoice! The wait is over and The Fast and the Furious 8 has hit UK cinemas.
The Fate of the Furious, the latest film in the street racing franchise, sees many of the old gang returning to the fold - as well as some new, but very famous, faces.
What is The Fate of the Furious all about?
The eighth film in the franchise follows on from Furious 7 which saw the gang return to the US after securing amnesty for their crimes in Fast & Furious 6.
Dom and Letty are now married and on their honeymoon, Brian and Mia have retired and the rest of the gang are attempting to lead normal lives.
But then a mysterious woman seduces Dom into a world of crime which he can’t escape from, even if it means betraying his friends who then race against time to bring him back.
In true Fast and Furious style, there is plenty of gun fire, fast car action, amazing stunts and the return of Jason Statham, - as well as Luke Hobbs, played by Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson who is brought in to catch Dom and bring him back in the fold.
One scene in the film seems to indicate that Dom may even betray his wife and locks lips with Cipher.
Who’s in The Fate of the Furious cast?
The regular Fast and Furious cast members are back with the notable exception of the late Paul Walker, who played Brian O’Connor.
It's the first film in the franchise not to feature the actor, who died in a car crash in 2013 - although he does appear in a photograph.
Dame Helen Mirren has been cast in an undisclosed role.
Vin Diesel (Dominic Toretto)
Vin has appeared as Dom, a mechanic who runs a street race team, since the very first film in the series in 2001 and has starred in six of the other movies.
As well as leading the cast in this franchise, he is also the leading man in the action-packed xXx movies.
He has become known for playing the hero of the piece, with films including the Chronicles of Riddick under his belt.
Vin is also the voice of the much-loved character Groot in the Guardians of the Galaxy films - in which he only ever says three words.
Michelle Rodriguez (Letty Ortiz)
Letty is Dominic’s girlfriend-turned-wife who is a highly skilled street racer and mechanic.
Michelle, who is also known for her role as Anna-Lucia in the TV series Lost, has played Letty since the very first Furious film and then four of the others.
Dwayne Johnson (Luke Hobbs)
Hobbs is a DSS (Diplomatic Security Service) agent who first made an appearance in the fifth film Fast Five.
Dwayne is also known as former professional wrestler The Rock and for playing The Scorpion King in The Mummy Returns and The Scorpion King.
Tyrese Gibson (Roman Pearce)
Tyrese has starred as Roman since 2 Fast 2 Furious, the second film in the franchise and has starred in four others since, including this new one.
The Grammy-nominated singer-turned actor is also known for his role as Robert Epps in the Transformers movies.
Charlize Theron (Cipher)
The actress makes her Furious debut as criminal Cipher who seduces Dom and recruits him into working against and betraying his friends.
Charlize is one of the Hollywood A-List, and bagged an Oscar for her portrayal of real-life criminal Aileen Wuornos in the biopic Monster in 2003.
For the role, the star put on several stone in weight, adopted a new set of teeth and became an almost double of the US's most famed serial killer.
She was also part of the cast on blockbusters including Mad Max: Fury Road, Prometheus, Snow White and the Huntsman and Aeon Flux.
Ludacris (Tej Parker)
The rapper-turned-actor has played race referee Tej since 2 Fast 2 Furious and has starred in four more in the series.
The Fast and Furious franchise is one of the rare exceptions he makes to step into the world of acting - having only a handful of roles in cinemas including rom-com New Year's Eve, gangster flick RocknRolla and an episode of Empire - which is loosely based on the rap music industry in the 90s.
Kurt Russell (Mr Nobody/Frank Petty)
The veteran actor made his first Furious appearance as Frank Petty in the previous movie, Furious 7 and reprises the role for the eighth film.
Petty is a government agent and the leader of a covert ops who helped Dom and the team take down rogue special forces agent Deckard Shaw.
He is due to join the Marvel Universe this year as Star Lord's father in Guardians of the Galaxy 2 - another film whose trailer aired during the Superbowl.
Jason Statham (Deckard Shaw)
Statham made his debut as Shaw in Furious 7 as the rogue special forces agent who was seeking to avenge his brother who was left in a coma after a battle with the gang.
He's become known as one of the hardest men in Hollywood, and is known more often than not for his roles in gangster films including Crank, Snatch and Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels.
However, he's never been afraid to turn the trope on its head, and played an over-zealous and sensitive spy Rick Ford in Melissa McCarthy fronted comedy, Spy.
Is there a trailer for The Fate of the Furious and will there be more films in the series?
The first trailer for the film caused a stir when it was released online, while the second was released during the highly-anticipated Super Bowl clash between the New England Patriots and the Atlanta Falcons.
It hinted at an epic battle between Vin Diesel and his former racing friends after newly-wed Dom Toretto, played by Diesel, has his head turned by Theron, who stars as Cipher, a manipulative criminal.
Another trailer dropped online on March 9, showing Dom going rogue and turning his back on the rest of the gang, helped by Charlize Theron’s character Cipher, a ‘high-tech terrorist’ who is able to control every car in the city and use them against the friends.
Given the success of Fast and Furious 7, which became one of the highest-grossing films of all time in 2015, it shouldn't be surprising bosses have signed up for a ninth and a tenth film in the franchise.
The release dates for these films have not been announced yet.
