Chris Morgan wrote the last six main series “Fast and Furious” movies but was replaced for next year’s “Fast & Furious 9”
Getty Images
Michelle Rodriguez did not mince words in a Monday night tweet about writer Chris Morgan, who is best known as the screenwriter for most of the “Fast and Furious” movies and the just-released “Hobbs & Shaw” spinoff — but not the upcoming “Fast & Furious 9.”
In the tweet, Rodriguez linked to an interview Morgan gave to Entertainment Weekly in which he promised fans that the franchise will eventually directly address #JusticeForHan, and she delivered some harsh words in response: “I’ve been around since the beginning way before Chris Morgan came along & he has absolutely nothing to do with where this narrative is or where it’s going FYI.”
Fans began the #JusticeForHan refrain upon the release of “The Fate of the Furious” when Jason Statham’s character, Deckard Shaw, became a protagonist character even though he had previously murdered Han Seoul-Oh (Sung Kang), a fan favorite character who featured in four of the previous movies. Their concerns were not really addressed in “Fate,” though that film did at least put Shaw into a situation in which he had to take a particularly heroic action — saving the baby son of Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) in one of the best sequences in the film.
In the EW interview, Morgan promised that Deckard Shaw’s “super-arc” would deal with with the #JusticeForHan situation directly, though “Hobbs & Shaw” does not. Morgan said that Shaw has one line in the film that referenced Han’s murder — “There’s things I’ve done that I have to make amends for” — but the spinoff notably contains very few meaningful callbacks to the main series.
Neither Statham nor Johnson are slated to appear in “Fast 9,” and Morgan is not creatively involved in the film, having been replaced by “Kin” screenwriter Daniel Casey while Morgan went with Johnson over to “Hobbs & Shaw.”
Rodriguez has been a major player in five of the “Fast and Furious” films, dating back to the 2001 original. Morgan first joined the franchise on the third film, “Tokyo Drift.”
Universal Pictures and reps for Rodriguez and Morgan did not immediately respond to requests for comment about Rodriguez’s tweet.
This isn’t the first time Rodriguez has been vocal about her dissatisfaction with aspects of the “Fast and Furious” franchise. In 2017, on the day of the “Fate of the Furious” digital home video release, she said on instagram that she might leave the series altogether unless “they decide to show some love to the women of the franchise on the next one.” Presumably her concerns have since been addressed: She is returning for the upcoming ninth film, and the first main cast pic was released to celebrate her birthday.
It’s no secret that Vin Diesel and Johnson had some kind of beef going during production on “Fate.” Judging by the level of open animosity Rodriguez is displaying toward Morgan here, and with Morgan leaving the main series after “Fate” to write “Hobbs & Shaw,” it seems plausible the creative conflicts on that film weren’t limited just to the two hulking stars.
It’s never been clear what exactly the conflict between Diesel and Johnson was about. But Johnson has admitted openly in a now-deleted Instagram post that it was a severe enough rift that, “When you watch this movie next April and it seems like I’m not acting in some of these scenes and my blood is legit boiling–you’re right.” Johnson later chalked up the whole thing to “a fundamental difference in philosophies on how we approach moviemaking and collaborating,” which could mean just about anything.
Whatever the case, “Fast and Furious 9” lands in theaters next Memorial Day weekend sans The Rock, Statham and Morgan, and with Diesel, Rodriguez. Ludacris, Tyrese Gibson, Jordana Brewster, Charlize Theron, Nathalie Emmanuel and John Cena.
See Rodriguez’s tweet below:
'Hobbs & Shaw': The 17 Craziest Stunts from the 'Fast and Furious' Franchise (Videos)
- Train race from “The Fast and the Furious”
The late Paul Walker’s facial expression says it all: there’s just pure and utter fear pulsing through this scene. His character Brian and Vin Diesel’s Dom barely come away from their stunt unscathed. - Bridge jump from “2 Fast 2 Furious”
Not only do Walker and Michael Ealy race each other over a bridge (of course, N2O is involved) but one just HAS to triumph and jump over the other jumping over the bridge. Naturally. - Yacht jump from “2 Fast 2 Furious”
Brian sure knows how to make an entrance — and destroy a boat in the process. - Hachiko Square drift from “The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift”
Thank the heavens that someone knows how to drift smoothly enough through a crowded intersection in Tokyo without touching a single pedestrian. - Mountain race from “The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift”
Staying with the drifting theme … there’s nothing quite like doing so on the edge of a cliff while someone is trying to push you off of it. - Gas tanker chase from “Fast & Furious”
Somehow, Michelle Rodriguez’s Letty and Dom survive a hurling gas tank — that’s in flames, no less — flying their way, after Letty herself pulls off a bada– heist. - Train robbery from “Fast Five”
Once again, Dom to the rescue! When a train robbery goes wrong, Dom must hijack a car, drive it out of a moving train car and save Brian before he gets smushed by a bridge. However, they drive off a cliff and somehow — SOMEHOW — survive a long fall. - Stealing the safe from “Fast Five”
How possible — and how dangerous — would it be to drive a hefty safe through Rio? Ah, who cares? It makes for a great car chase. - Owen Shaw’s escape from “Fast Five”
In this scene, cop cars are flying left and right as the team tries to catch Owen Shaw (Luke Evans), the younger brother of Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham). - Tank race from “Furious 6”
Anytime an army tank is involved, we know the scene is going to be insane. Plus, we have Tyrese Gibson performing an epic jump onto Paul Walker’s car. - Cargo plane from “Fast & Furious 7”
This actually might be one of the craziest scenes from the whole franchise. The gang literally drives their cars off a cargo plane that’s IN THE AIR. Of course, not all goes as planned. - Bus on cliff from “Fast & Furious 7”
It wouldn’t be a “Fast and Furious” movie if there wasn’t a cliff involved somehow. This time, a bus is suspended over the edge, with Brian stuck in it. - Soaring between skyscrapers from “Fast & Furious 7”
Sure, a car can totally fly between two skyscrapers — twice. - Raining cars from “The Fate of the Furious”
In this movie, Charlize Theron’s villainous Cipher has Dom wrapped around her little finger. In this scene, she remotely controls all the cars in the city to stop a motorcade — and cars literally rain from the sky. - Wrecking ball from “The Fate of the Furious”
The team lets a wrecking ball loose on their enemies, causing mass destruction — especially when the wrecking ball swings back. Plus, Dom and Dwayne Johnson’s Hobbs get into a little bit of a kerfuffle. - Snow race from “The Fate of the Furious
From street races to snow races — they just get wilder and wilder. - And the missile collision from “The Fate of the Furious”
Dom jumping off a makeshift ice ramp and over a submarine while being chased by a homing missile, which then explodes and causes a huge firestorm that almost kills him? COUNT. US. IN!
With “Hobbs & Shaw” hitting theaters this weekend, TheWrap takes a look at the wildest scenes from the last 18 years of the franchise
Source: Read Full Article
