Dwayne Johnson shows off first set photo from 'Fast and Furious' spinoff 'Hobbs and Shaw'

Dwayne Johnson is getting back to fast and furious business.

Today, the Hollywood mega-star known as “the Rock” announced via Instagram (see below) and Twitter that filming has begun on Hobbs and Shaw, the eagerly awaited first spinoff from the Fast and Furious series. As the title implies, it will pair Johnson’s U.S. Diplomatic Security Service agent Luke Hobbs with Jason Statham’s reformed criminal Deckard Shaw in an all-new action saga that pits them against Idris Elba’s villain. Although the post’s picture, below, does not show Johnson, it does show off a suave-looking Statham chatting with director David Leitch (Atomic Blonde, Deadpool 2) in front of one sweet-looking ride.

This follows Leitch’s Instagram tease from Sunday, indicating the start of production (as well as hinting at the film’s logo):

As Johnson’s social-media message says, he won’t be joining Statham in London for another two weeks. Still, his excitement to get into some slam-bang trouble with his equally bald co-star is palpable — and it’s shared by his legion of Twitter fans, who made it clear they’re more than ready to witness the dynamic duo get down to big-screen action.

This Hobbs and Shaw news followed last week’s announcement that cameras will roll on the still-untitled Fast and Furious 9 on April 20, 2019, under the stewardship of Justin Lin, who previously directed the third through sixth installments. Johnson’s feud with Vin Diesel during the making of 2017’s The Fate of the Furious, as well as his subsequent beef with co-star Tyrese Gibson over Hobbs and Shaw (with Gibson taking to social media to bash the star for putting himself ahead of the franchise), makes it seem unlikely that Hobbs will be showing up in Lin’s sequel, whose release date was pushed back a year to accommodate Hobbs and Shaw. Johnson also has a packed schedule next year, because he’s slated to make both Jumanji 3 and Red Notice in early 2019 — not to mention his DC Universe entry, Black Adam.

Hobbs and Shaw arrives in theaters Aug. 2, 2019. Fast and Furious 9, meanwhile, is slated to debut in spring 2020.

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