Vin Diesel

The Fast & Furious franchise really is all about family. The billion-dollar speed saga is officially racing onto Netflix with a new animated series following the adventures of Dominic Toretto’s young cousin. We swear we’re not making this up.

Here’s a question for you: is it time to add Vin Diesel to the list of actors whose career is defined entirely by a single film franchise? Sure, Diesel has shown up in other successful movies throughout his careers — Saving Private Ryan, The Iron Giant, and Guardians of the Galaxy have all been critical and commercial successes, not to mention his more niche productions like Find Me Guilty and his Riddick movies — but none of this holds a candle to his work on the Fast and Furious franchise. He’s been producer, screenwriter, and star of those movies for over 16 years now… I mean, nobody goes up to William Shatner and praises him for his work in Judgment at Nuremberg, right?

Last week, Michelle Rodriguez posted an Instagram praising the eighth Fast & Furious movie, but also mentioning that the series’ treatment of its female characters might force her to sit out the next round, if the situation doesn’t improve. F. Gary Gray later responded to her criticisms, saying that he thought the latest film had a tons of strong roles for women, proving that he kiiinda gets it, but not really. Rodriguez has a point. And Vin Diesel, for one, is going to stick up for her.

In 1994, a then-unknown Vin Diesel did an ad for Street Shark toys, and needless to say he was very enthusiastic about them.

The Fast and Furious franchise wouldn’t be where it is now without Vin Diesel. The films didn’t even kick into high gear until Diesel returned for 2009’s Fast and Furious, and the box-office numbers have been climbing astronomically since then. To say Universal owes Vin Diesel a gigantic debt of gratitude is an understatement, but exactly how much do they owe him? Would they actually let Diesel, who has little experience directing a movie let alone directing a movie on the scale of a Fast and Furious film, behind the camera of Fast and Furious 8? According to a new report, this may be what Vin Diesel wants and Universal is terrified.

Fast and Furious 7 just made Universal over $1.5 billion and when you make people that much money, you can pretty much do whatever you want for your next project. Vin Diesel, the star of and producer of the Fast franchise, has that kind of clout now and has decided to use that clout to make…xXx 3?

Before he was fast or furious Vin Diesel was break dancing his way to stardom. Vin Diesel is one of the hottest stars in Hollywood but I bet he never thought he would see this again.

Furious 7 almost certainly won’t be the last Fast & Furious movie. But at times it feels like a series finale. There are numerous callbacks and homages to the franchise’s entire 15-year history. The setpieces are bigger and crazier than ever; it’s hard to imagine anyone topping them. And before the chases really get rolling, the mood is often downright mournful. Two different scenes are set in graveyards, and characters talk about taking “one last ride” together.

Vin Diesel, he of the bulging biceps, shiny scalp and low vocal register, has been making the press rounds for Furious 7 over the past few weeks. Considering just how crazy his new movie is, he sure has a lot to talk about. But even the unlimited number of potential conversation topics to mined from the insanity of the seventh film in the Fast and Furious saga couldn’t stop him from teasing the eighth film in the franchise, which may be set in New York City.

If you didn’t tune in for tonight’s premiere of DIG on USA, then you probably missed this new extended trailer for Furious 7. No worries—our latest action-packed sneak peek of the upcoming sequel has arrived online for your viewing pleasure. Although it packs some of the footage we’ve already seen in previous trailers, this extended look includes some new stuff we haven’t seen before and offers plenty to get your motor runnin’.