CHARLIZE FURIOUS!
LOCATION & STUNTS
THIS is the first time a Hollywood blockbuster has filmed in Cuba.
Producers have been desperate to go to the car-mad country for years – but it was never a possibility until diplomatic relations between the US and Cuba eased.
The result is the nerveshredding Cuban Mile sequence which director F Gary Gray shot in the capital Havana.
He says: “It is extremely dangerous with a lot of sharp turns.
“This race takes you throughout Havana, and there is no stopping. It’s absolutely insane.”
Jason Statham and Dwayne Johnson square off in a prison brawl scene, combining Statham’s martial arts prowess and Johnson’s fierce strength.
There’s races through the crowded streets of New York and the final confrontation sees the team in a car chase with a Russian nuclear submarine!
Johnson says: “When you think of gargantuan submarines chasing us, cars being remote controlled and flying out of buildings, those are just two examples of next-level action here.
“We’re giving fans a second dessert they didn’t even know to expect.”
THE CARS
AS always, the cars are the real stars of the show.
The film’s opening sequence in Cuba has Dom racing a stripped down junker of a 1953 Chevy Fleetline against a 1956 Ford Fairlane, the island’s fastest car.
Then Dom’s Dodge Ice Charger takes centre stage, alongside Hobbs in a modified Dodge Ice Ram Truck.
Michelle’s character Letty takes on a Rally Fighter, while Scott Eastwood’s agent floors it in a Subaru WRX.
Tej finally gets his own tank with the military Ripsaw while Roman powers an orange Lamborghini.
THE CAST
Vin Diesel plays Dom Toretto, LA ex-con turned car thief who abandons his friends in favour of hacker Cipher.
Charlize Theron makes her debut as Cipher, the world’s most notorious cyber-terrorist who lives on a high-tech airplane with an army of mercenaries. Dwayne “The Rock”
Johnson is Hobbs, the former US government agent, who ends up in jail and has to escape to lead the hunt for Dom.
Jason Statham is Deckard Shaw, a villain who killed team member Han in a previous film but is recruited by them now.
Michelle Rodriguez is Letty, the streetwise secondin-command and Dom’s wife, the only one who still believes in him.
Tyrese Gibson plays Roman, the fast-talking ladies’ man who charms his way out of bad situations.
Chris Bridges, aka rapper Ludacris, is Tej, the brilliant tech expert and car mechanic.
Kurt Russell is Mr Nobody, the government spook who keeps everyone guessing.
Scott Eastwood (Clint’s son) debuts as agent Eric Reisner, Mr Nobody’s son. Game of Thrones’s Nathalie
Emmanuel (above) is Ramsey, a genius hacker. And Helen Mirren joins as a mysterious older woman (the smart money is on her playing Jason Statham’s mum).