The Fate of the Furious

It is the sequel to Furious 7 (2015) and the eighth installment in the Fast & Furious franchise. The film stars Vin Diesel as Dominic Toretto, alongside Dwayne Johnson, Jason Statham, Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, Scott Eastwood, Nathalie Emmanuel, Elsa Pataky, Kurt Russell, and Charlize Theron. In the film, Dom has settled down with his wife Letty Ortiz, until cyberterrorist Cipher (Theron) coerces him into working for her and turns him against his team, forcing them to find Dom and take down Cipher.

The eighth installment was planned since 2014, and plot details were first announced in March 2015 when Diesel appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live! and announced that the film would be set in New York City. Preparations for the film began immediately before the release of Furious 7, with Diesel, Morgan, and producer Neal H. Moritz re-signing.

After setting an initial release date in that same month, casting took place between April and June. In October, Gray was announced to direct the film in the place of James Wan, who had directed the previous installment. Composer Brian Tyler, who had scored the third, fourth, fifth, and seventh installments, returned to compose the score.

Principal photography began in March 2016 in locations such as Mývatn, Havana, Atlanta, Cleveland, and New York City, continuing the franchise’s tradition of filming around the world. With an estimated production budget of up to $270 million, it is one of the most expensive films ever made. This is the first film in the series since Tokyo Drift (2006) not to star Paul Walker as Brian O’Conner, following his death in November 2013.

The Fate of the Furious premiered in Berlin on April 4, 2017, and was theatrically released in the United States on April 14, by Universal Pictures. It received mixed to positive reviews from critics, with praise for the performances of the cast and action sequences but criticism for the storyline.

The film was a box office success, grossing over $1.2 billion worldwide, making it the nineteenth film (and the second in the franchise, after Furious 7) to gross over $1 billion, the third-highest-grossing film of 2017, and the eleventh highest-grossing film of all time at the time.

It also grossed $541.9 million worldwide during its opening weekend, which made it the highest-grossing worldwide opening of all time until the release of Avengers: Infinity War a year later. The film was followed by a spin-off, Hobbs & Shaw (2019), and a direct sequel, F9 (2021).

Sensing Raldo is a loan shark, Dom challenges Raldo to a race, pitting Fernando’s 1949 Chevrolet Fleetline against Raldo’s 1956 Ford Fairlane Crown Victoria, and wagering his own 1961 Chevrolet Impala. After narrowly winning the race, Dom allows Raldo to keep his car, saying his respect is enough.

The next day, an elusive woman named Cipher coerces Dom into working for her by showing him something on her phone. Shortly afterward, Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) agent Luke Hobbs is given an off-the-books mission to retrieve an EMP device from a military outpost in Berlin, and is warned that he will face arrest if captured. Hobbs recruits Dom and his team, comprising Letty, Roman Pearce, Tej Parker, and Ramsey, to help him retrieve the device.

During the getaway, Dom forces Hobbs off the road and steals the device for Cipher, who is a cyberterrorist. Hobbs is arrested and confined in the same high-security prison which holds Deckard Shaw. They initiate a prison escape and are recruited by intelligence operative Mr. Nobody and his protégé, Little Nobody, to help the team find Dom and capture Cipher.

When Hobbs and the team protest working with Deckard, he reveals that Cipher had hired his brother Owen to steal the Nightshade device and Mose Jakande to steal God’s Eye, Ramsey’s software program. The team tracks Dom and Cipher to their own location, moments before the two attack the base, injure the team and steal God’s Eye.

When Dom shows frustration with Cipher, she shows him his ex-lover and DSS agent Elena Neves, and their son, of whose existence Dom was unaware, having kidnapped both to secure his loyalty. Cipher sends Dom to retrieve a nuclear football held by the Russian Minister of Defense in New York City.

With the help of Raldo, Dom briefly evades Cipher, and persuades Deckard and Owen’s mother, Magdalene, to help him, offering to arrange the Shaw brothers’ freedom from government custody if they rescue his son from Cipher’s plane. Cipher hacks into the electronics systems of many cars, remotely controlling them via auto drive, causing them to blockade the convoy so that Dom can take the football.

The team intercepts Dom in their cars, but Dom escapes and seemingly kills Deckard. Letty catches up to Dom and steals the football, but is nearly killed by Cipher’s enforcer, Connor Rhodes, before Dom stops him and forces the football from Letty. In retaliation, Cipher lets Rhodes execute a tied up Elena in front of Dom, threatening to kill his son next should he fail to cooperate with her agin.

Dom infiltrates a military separatist base in Russia to use the EMP device to disable security and a nuclear submarine, enabling Cipher to hijack it and attempt to use its arsenal to trigger a nuclear war.

They are intercepted by the team, who shut down the submarine’s nuclear weapons and drive toward the gates that would prevent the sub from leaving to sea, while being pursued by separatists. Deckard, who faked his death with the help of Magdalene and Dom’s former crew members Leo and Santos, teams up with Owen and infiltrates Cipher’s plane to rescue Dom’s son.

Once Deckard reports that the child is safe, Dom turns on Cipher and kills Rhodes before rejoining his team. Cipher fires an infrared homing missile at Dom’s Charger, but he breaks away from his team and lures the missile to the trailing submarine.

The team forms a vehicular blockade and shields Dom from the explosion as the submarine is destroyed. After killing all of Cipher’s henchmen, Deckard reaches the front of the plane and confronts Cipher, who escapes by parachute, while Owen holds the pilot at gunpoint and forces him to land the plane.

Mr. Nobody and his protégé visit Dom and his team in New York City to report that Cipher is still at large. Hobbs has his record cleared and is offered his DSS job back, but he declines and chooses to spend more time with his daughter. Deckard delivers Dom his son, putting his differences aside with Dom and Hobbs, and is accepted into their family. Dom names his son Brian and celebrates with his friends.