During a recent press event for the new F9: The Fast Saga trailer, Vin Diesel revealed that the late Paul Walker played a part in the casting of John Cena. The Fast and Furious franchise star said he had a gut feeling that Cena was meant to star in the upcoming blockbuster.
Fast and Furious veteran filmmaker Justin Lin, who directed the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth films in the iconic 20-year-old action franchise, was tapped to make F9. The acclaimed director co-wrote the screenplay with Daniel Casey. F9 wrapped filming back in 2019 and is the sequel to 2017’s The Fate of the Furious. Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, and Charlize Theron are all reprising their roles from the previous films, while Diesel’s 10-year-old son, Vincent Sinclair, is expected to appear as a younger version of Dom Toretto. John Cena is joining the franchise to play Jakob, a master thief who is also the brother to Dom and Mia. The highly-anticipated film will see Jakob joining forces with Cipher (Theron), the cyberterrorist who tried to take down Dom and his family in F8.
Diesel, who first played Dom alongside Paul Walker in 2001’s The Fast and the Furious, opened up about the decision to cast Cena as Jakob. During a press event, the 53-year-old action star stated that Walker’s presence was felt when they were searching for an actor to play Dom’s brother and that the process was “harrowing” because there were so many directions that they could go. “I remember John [Cena] coming in and… call this crazy, but I remember feeling as though Pablo, Paul Walker, had sent him in,” said Diesel while adding, “I remember talking to Justin that night and saying, ‘My gut and my heart feels like this was meant to be.’”
Cena is set to appear as the anti-hero Peacemaker in James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad and Peacemaker series. The WWE star joins a long list of big names that have appeared in the Fast & Furious franchise. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Jason Statham, Kurt Russell, Gal Gadot, and Helen Mirren have all had recurring roles in the iconic car-racing saga. The Rock and Statham notably starred in the Fast & Furious spin-off Hobbs & Shaw. The Universal Pictures film received fairly favorable reviews from critics and grossed an impressive $759 million worldwide on a $200 million budget.
Lin previously stated that Diesel convinced him to not only direct F9 but also the final two entries in the main Fast and Furious saga. The writer-director noted that F9 will serve as the beginning of the final chapter and that the tenth and eleventh Fast & Furious entries will film as a two-part saga. The decision to end the saga with two films was inspired by Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame. By grossing nearly $6 billion at the global box office, Fast & Furious is one of the most profitable franchises in film history.
F9: The Fast Saga is scheduled to be released in theatres on June 25, 2021.
Source: Cinemablend