As The Fast & Furious drama gets, well, 'furiouser,' franchise star Vin Diesel takes to social media to try and calm things a bit.
Things heated up just one day after Universal Pictures announced the fate of "Furious 9" – how it would hit the big screen one year later than expected (now slated for April 20, 2020) – and rather a spinoff starring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and Jason Statham would arrive in theaters summer 2019.
This tidbit upset franchise co-star Tyrese Gibson, so much that he took to his Instagram account, blaming Dwayne himself for the change, just days after the new dates were announced.
"#PSA Congratulations to @TheRock and your brother in law aka 7 bucks producing partner @hhgarcia41 for making the fast and the furious franchise about YOU" Gibson writes. "- And like you, DJ even if they call I will not be deleting this post – Gn folks see you in 2020 April #FastFamily right? Nah….. it's about #TeamDewayne #3yrs will it be worth the wait? #NoShaw just Hobbs will this be another #BayWatch? Guys guys just relax I'm just a passionate film critic"
On Friday Diesel, 50, who plays their fearless leader, "Dom," in the hit films, took to his Instagram with a photo of he and Johnson, to try and smooth things out between the cast.
"Brotherhood… and all it's complexities," he wrote. "This scene was filmed in Puerto Rico, I can remember it like it was yesterday. Such a beautiful island, the people were so warm and welcoming. I turned 43 that summer… and my son Vincent was born. A woman named Jan Kelly responded to a question I had asked on Facebook, 'who they would like to see me work with?' She said would love to see me work with Dwayne… I listened to her request and he became Hobbs.
"I know there has been a lot of speculation as to why the Fast 9 release date was pushed… but it would be unfair to say it is anyone's fault," he continued. "As we plot the course to expand the Fast & Furious universe, one must be mindful to take stock of the roads we took to get here. The pillars of authenticity, family and most importantly, our loyal fan's perspective has been instrumental in procuring success.
"However, like any vehicle that has run around the globe 8 times, the franchise is in need of maintenance," he added. "My good friend and the godfather of Universal, Ron Meyer has granted me the time to do just that. We have some very exciting news to share soon… stay tuned. Yours truly, Dom #FamilyAlways."
While Johnson, 44, has yet to react to Vin's post, the former pro wrestler tweeted Friday, offering, "my goal from day 1 was to come in and create an exciting/fun character for the fans, elevate the franchise and build it out. #HobbsShaw2019."
Also, as The Rock has yet to respond publicly to Tyrese, 38, he did ignite a bit of controversy in 2016 when he wrote on his Facebook after the 8th film in the franchise hit, how "there's no other franchise that gets my blood boiling more than this one. An incredibly hard working crew. Universal Studios Entertainment has been great partners as well. My female co-stars are always amazing and I love 'em."
He then added: "My male co-workers however are a different story. Some conduct themselves as stand up men and true professionals, while others don't. The ones that don't are too chicken s–t to do anything about it anyway. Candy asses."
Johnson then goes on to reveal how in some of the scenes his blood was in fact boiling around some of the unnamed male actors (some speculate this included costar Diesel).
Earlier in the year, at the premiere of "The Fate of the Furious," Dwayne talked to E! News and a chat he had with Diesel, about the aforementioned comments.
"I think everything's fine," he told E! "We had a good chat long ago and everything is the way it should be."
He then added: "But you know, look, in life, it happens where you have fundamental differences and philosophies from other people and I believe in doing things a certain way, he believes in doing things another way and that's just the way it is. But yeah, we had a good chat."
Wow, all this drama could be a drama of its own!