Dwayne Johnson Breaks Silence On ‘Fast And Furious’ Hobbs Spinoff Drama

There’s been a lot of back-and-forth in the “Fast and Furious” family recently over the delaying of the ninth installment in the franchise and the announcement of an upcoming spinoff. And that back-and-forth continued on Monday.

After a week of other “Fast and Furious” cast members, specifically Tyrese Gibson and Vin Diesel, commenting on Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s Hobbs-centered spinoff, Johnson himself has finally posted about the new project.

“Daddy’s gotta go back to work ~ Hobbs. Pumped to expand and build out the ‘Fast & Furious’ universe in a cool, exciting way with our @sevenbucksprod, writer/producer Chris Morgan, producer Hiram Garcia and lead producer and my bigger twin, Neil Moritz,” Johnson captioned a short announcement video on Instagram on Monday. “Thank you Universal Studios for being tremendous partners who see the big picture and for coming to us years ago with this spinoff idea. Huge shout to my brother, Jason Statham for the trust and wanting to create and deliver something fresh and bad [expletive] for the fans.”

While Gibson’s posts last week were mainly about calling out Johnson for wanting to have his own spinoff and for delaying the next “Fast and Furious” spinoff, The Rock seemed to take the high road by talking mainly about the movie, the fans and his co-star Statham. That said, though he didn’t name Gibson specifically, he did say what he’s happy to do to anyone who doesn’t like that a spinoff is happening.

“I have a tremendous amount of respect for this franchise that I’ve enjoyed droppin’ blood and sweat in over the years and my vision is to create greater opportunities for not only my fellow FF cast mates, but for other amazing actors as well who want to be a part of something new and cool,” Johnson continued on his Instagram post.

“I want to use my spinoff platform to create new characters that fans will ultimately love to have fun with in multiple chapters and platforms. Film, TV, Digital, Virtual Reality etc.. the more opportunities we can create the better for the fans. Smart business. Let’s have some fun and to quote, Hobbs the boss, if you don’t like it, we’re happy to beat that [expletive] like a Cherokee drum.”

While Johnson explained that he wants to expand the “Fast” universe because it’s smart business and it’s good for fans and the cast, Gibson’s posts from last week suggest that he’s not interested in a “greater” opportunity in the franchise like a spinoff. He also doesn’t think that this spinoff project delaying “Fast 9” is good for the fans.

“I tried to warn you guys... You thought I was hating...... I was simply fighting to keep the family together what makes us great is when you see us all together we don’t fly solo,” Gibson posted on Instagram on Thursday. “I got 3 years of venting on this clown - They offered but YOU didn’t have to agree with a solo #HobbsMovie #OriginalFastFamily we salute you and stand on your shoulders #VinDiesel #PaulWalker #RobCohen #RomanTej were offered a spin off we TURNED IT DOWN.”

While Gibson only blamed Johnson for trying to break up the “Fast” family, Diesel took to Instagram on Saturday to say that it was no one’s fault that “Fast 9” was delayed.

“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,” Diesel wrote. “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 fan’s perspective has been instrumental in procuring success. However, like any vehicle that has run around the globe 8 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.”

The Hobbs and Shaw spinoff of “Fast and Furious” comes out on July 26, 2019.