By James White | Posted 8 May 2019

While the Fast & Furious franchise has developed into a money-making machine, it's also begun building a wider cinematic universe, launching spin-offs including this year's Dwayne Johnson/Jason Statham-led Hobbs & Shaw. Squirreled away in a The Hollywood Reporter story about legal battles between studio Universal and longtime Fast producer Neal Moritz is mention of the company exploring another avenue: a film featuring Charlize Theron's villainous Cipher.

Last seen turning Vin Diesel's Dominic Toretto against the rest of the Fast family through devious leverage in Fast & Furious 8 (even though he was eventually able to thwart her plans), Cipher escaped at the end of the movie, no doubt with plans to cause more chaos down the line. Now she may get her chance.

As of right now, the studio is simply exploring the idea, and there are no official deals in place yet. But if Hobbs & Shaw is a success – and given its leads and those wild trailers, it could well be – expect the franchise to start broadening even further.

Hobbs & Shaw crashes in on 2 August. The next main Fast & Furious movie, with Justin Lin returning to direct, is in pre-production and starts shooting soon. That one will arrive next year.

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