Brothers In Arms - Hobbs & Shaw

One of the world’s most successful franchises is swerving into new territory with UK/US spin-off Fast & Furious: Hobbs & Shaw. Total Film meets stars Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham to get the inside track on how they’re supersizing the chemistry, stunts and worldbuilding to give the highspeed series a fuel injection.

- Matt Maytum

In the Universal Studios Lot in California, it’s an uncharacteristically grey day in May 2019. But the threat of drizzle is apt, as Total Film strolls past a huge recreation of a London street, replete with fast cars and revving motorcycles. Some filming is taking place today, but TF is in fake London to meet the cast of Fast & Furious: Hobbs & Shaw, the franchise spin-off that follows Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham’s title characters in a side mission that takes them far away from Vin Diesel’s Dominic Toretto.

The idea of spinning off from the lucrative franchise (total box office to date: $5.1bn) with US DSS agent Luke Hobbs (Johnson) and British special forces operative-turned-mercenary turned-uneasy-ally Deckard Shaw (Statham) came naturally, according to director David Leitch, the former stunt coordinator who has become an acclaimed director with the likes of John Wick, Atomic Blonde and Deadpool 2. “The chemistry between Dwayne and Jason was so well-received in [Fast & Furious] 7 and 8, that I think that it just felt right for [series screenwriter] Chris Morgan and the team to really just say, ‘These characters should have their own world. We want to know more about them. But the Fast movies can’t support all that story. So let’s give them their own lane.’”