It would be foolish to say that the addition of Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson wasn't a major factor in the success of Fast Five. Simply put, the guy is a born action star and when given material like what's featured in the Fast and Furious franchise you're bound to come up with something fun and exciting. Hence why this new bit of news is quite exciting.
Twitch is reporting from unnamed sources that ongoing conversations are being held with action veteran Jason Statham to appear in the next film in the franchise. The article says that the franchise will be moving to a European locale, which would be appropriate given Statham's heritage. What's more, the report says that they may actually end up filming the next two sequels, temporarily known as Fast Six and Fast Seven, back-to-back. Giving credence to this rumor is that director Justin Lin recently had to back out of directing the next installment of the Terminator franchise due to scheduling conflicts. The source does say that the Statham casting is, "far from a sure thing."
If this rumor does turn out to be true, it would be interesting if the Fast and Furious franchise was turning into an Expendables-esque thing where each sequel would add a new, major name. It's a shame that 20th Century Fox owns the rights to the Transporter series, as that would make for an awesome crossover. Who wouldn't want to see Frank Martin hitting the streets with Dominic Toretto and Brian O'Conner?
