When Furious 7 opens on April 3, it's expected to take the country by storm, and will likely dominate the box office. However, according to star Vin Diesel, the film is also a shoo-in for sweeping next year's Oscars.

In an interview with Variety, Diesel made some bold claims, saying, "Universal is going to have the biggest movie in history with this movie."

"It will probably win Best Picture at the Oscars," the 47-year-old action star added. "Unless the Oscars don't want to be relevant ever."

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The film is the latest in the long-running Fast & Furious franchise, and is also the last film to feature the late actor Paul Walker, who died in a sudden car crash in November 2013.



Despite the fan base, the film winning Best Picture seems like a long shot. Of the 88 films to win Best Picture, very few could really be considered action films. Even fewer feature scenes of cars being driven out of the side of a skyscraper and into another skyscraper.

That being said, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences have been looking for ways to make their iconic awards ceremony more populist, and they have a history of rewarding actors who passed before their time, so anything's possible.

Diesel touted that Furious 7 has all the action fans could want, and the emotion that awards voters look for when choosing a film.

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"We were successful in one-upping the action sequences… [But] what the world won't anticipate is how emotionally powerful the movie is," Diesel explained. "The head of the studio, Ron Meyer, often said when Fast 5 or Fast 6 came out, 'If there was no number attached to these movies, they would be contenders for best picture.' And when people see Furious 7, they are going to agree."

Diesel has also said that this installment in the franchise was the hardest movie he's ever made . Check out the video below to hear why.

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