Aquaman Jason Momoa is joining the cast of the Fast & Furious films, one of the most successful movie franchises with combined gross earnings of more than $6 billion.
While it's unclear what role Momoa will be playing, he is expected to be cast as one of the villains, according to various reports.
The Fast & Furious official Twitter account made the announcement on Friday, tweeting "The Fast Fam keeps getting bigger. Welcome, Jason Momoa".
The Hollywood Reporter, which first reported the news, said Justin Lin, who has directed five films in the franchise, including the last one – F9, in 2021 – will return. Tentatively titled Fast & Furious 10, the coming flick is set to be the conclusion of the saga and will be a two-part film, with part one set to be released in 2023.
Longtime stars Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, Chris “Ludacris” Bridges and Sung Kang are all set to return, and so is Charlize Theron, who appeared in the eighth film, The Fate of the Furious and in F9.
The project was recently in the news for an alleged dispute between Diesel, who is also a producer, and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, who appeared in four films as well as the spin-off Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw.
Diesel is believed to have intensely courted Johnson, who played law enforcer Luke Hobbs and who did not star in F9, to return to the franchise. In a now-infamous Instagram post, Diesel pleaded with Johnson asking him to "show up".
"Do not leave the franchise idle. You have a very important role to play. Hobbs can’t be played by no other. I hope that you rise to the occasion and fulfil your destiny," Diesel wrote.
However, in an interview with CNN, Johnson responded to the public request with criticism, saying that he and Diesel had already previously reached an agreement in private about his role in the franchise.
“I told Diesel directly that I would not be returning to the franchise. I was firm yet cordial with my words and said that I would always be supportive of the cast and always root for the franchise to be successful, but that there was no chance I would return,” Johnson said.
“Vin’s recent public post was an example of his manipulation. I didn’t like that he brought up his children in the post, as well as Paul Walker’s death. Leave them out of it. We had spoken months ago about this and came to a clear understanding.”
Fast & Furious has filmed around the world, including Abu Dhabi, for Furious 7. Diesel, Rodriguez, Gibson and Bridges were in the UAE capital for a week shooting scenes in various locations including the Emirates Palace and Etihad Towers. Production of the film, which was released in 2015, was delayed following the sudden death of its lead star Paul Walker, in a road accident in 2013.
