We’re a little over a month out from the premiere of upcoming spinoff Hobbs & Shaw, but Fast and Furious 9 is already racing for our attention.
The latest entry in the street racing-turned-action heist series doesn’t have an official title just yet, but it does boast a stacked cast, including newcomer John Cena. That being said, we all know that at this point we’re actually tuning in to these flicks see the high octane antics of Dom Toretto’s makeshift family. And to celebrate the first day of shooting, Vin Diesel has now shared a behind the scenes look at the production on his Instagram:
The video, which also features co-star Michelle Rodriguez, doesn’t show much in the way of plot, but does depict a very heartfelt thank you from Diesel himself:
“We just completed our first day. It feels like a miracle — one hard-earned, but we’re just so grateful.”
Game of Thrones’ Nathalie Emmanuel, who first joined the billion-dollar franchise in 2015’s Furious 7, also celebrated the start of filming in her own way, taking to Twitter to share emojis that hint at the other cast members expected to return:
Day one of shooting Fast and Furious 9 today… The team is back together 👨🏼🦲👩🏻👨🏿🦲🙋🏻♀️👨🏾💻👩🏽💻
— Nathalie Emmanuel (@missnemmanuel) June 24, 2019
Clearly those little keyboard images are meant to represent Diesel’s Toretto and Rodriguez’s Letty, along with Tyrese Gibson’s Roman, Jordana Brewster’s Mia, and the team’s two hackers, Ludacris’ Tej Parker and Emmanuel’s Ramsey. As previously mentioned, John Cena has also joined the cast as a mystery character that’ll be more “badass” than the wrestler-turned-actor’s more recent goofy roles.
We still have quite a while before filming wraps on Fast and Furious 9, and even longer to wait before the movie hits theaters next April. Until then, we’ll just have to settle for Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham’s spinoff Hobbs & Shaw, premiering on August 2nd.