Early chatter about Fast & Furious 8 centred on a possible New York setting, but with the franchise's increasingly globe-trotting thrust, that turns out not to be the half of it. Locations in Iceland and Russia are being eyed, and director F. Gary Gray has just returned from an investigatory trip to Cuba. If F&F8 ends up shooting there, it'll be the first major Hollywood film to do so in more than half a century.
The US government's recent thawing of relations with Cuba after decades of never-the-twain has opened up this possibility. Last year, Bob Yari's independent Ernest Hemingway biopic, Papa, starring Giovanni Ribisi, was allowed to shoot in Cuba, but did so via some loopholes that classed the film as a documentary. A studio blockbuster like a Fast & Furious is a significantly different step.
The paperwork isn't in yet, but studio Universal have issued a statement confirming that they're "seeking approval" from the US and Cuban governments. The special licence has been applied for...
Fast & Furious 8, coming off the astonishing $1.5bn success of Furious 7, will, of course, star Vin Diesel, with Dwayne Johnson also confirmed as returning, and the rest of the surviving regulars and Kurt Russell looking like strong possibilities. Straight Outta Compton's F. Gary Gray is, as we mentioned, the director this time (having previously worked with Diesel on A Man Apart), and the film currently has a release date of April 14 next year.