F&F spinoff gets 2019 release

Universal may have pushed its next “Fast and the Furious” chapter back a year, but the studio is not sitting idle. It's just switching gears to focus on the much-buzzed-about “Fast & Furious” spinoff that is intended to be a starring vehicle for Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham.

With “Fast 9” moved back to 2020, Universal is now officially putting the project on the calendar, dating it for a July 26, 2019 opening.

Chris Morgan, who has shepherded the script chores since 2006's “Toyko Drift”, is writing the spinoff that will focus on Luke Hobbs, the Diplomatic Security Service agent played by Johnson, and Deckard Shaw, an assassin character who was one of the primary bad guys in the franchise before being redeemed and joining the motley crew of antiheroes that make up the roll call.

However, no deals have been made with the actors, reports Hollywood Reporter.