The Fast & Furious franchise has evolved from an entertaining series of racing films to a major box office powerhouse. It's the sort of thing that breaks records, not just here, but in overseas markets, as well. One of the reasons that the films may be doing so well is because of their broadly diverse cast, but one actor thinks that there's one place that the films can do even better in terms of their diversity. They need more strong women, which is why Fast 8 will feature a powerful female villain.
Tyrese Gibson will be moving from one major franchise to another when he finishes up his work on Fast 8 and returns to the Transformers series. Both sets of films perform remarkably well overseas, but Gibson recently told ET Online that part of the appeal of the Fast and Furious movies is the ensemble cast the film has put together. The newest film will include several new names, including Helen Miren and Charlize Theron as Cipher, the film's primary villain. These are both welcome additions according to Gibson, as the series can only benefit from the addition of more strong women.
What we pride [ourselves in] in The Fast and Furious [franchise] is a very diversified cast that's translating domestically and internationally in a major way. We have bits and pieces of power women in it, but we needed to bring it up a notch.
As an ensemble, the Fast & Furious films have included some very strong women over the course of their nearly eight films. Actresses like Jordana Brewster, Michelle Rodriguez, Eva Mendez, and Gal Gadot have all been part of the series at various points. However, Academy Award winner Charlize Theron really takes that cast to the next level. She's got the clout that comes with being an award-winning actress, and she's also coming off a huge role in last summer's Mad Max: Fury Road which was one of the few movies that succeeded at being both a box office blockbuster, and a major award nominee. It also happened to involve cars crashing into each other, which doesn't hurt.
We don't know much about the role beyond the character name Cipher, but as the film's villain, Charlize Theron will have the most prominent female role in the series thus far. She's not the only new female actresses joining the team, however. We also know that Helen Mirren, who had previously shown interest in being part of the series, will be in the film in some capacity.
Fast 7 set box office records in China, showing that the franchise's formula translates well in a variety of cultures. The addition of more women should only help the series do better. Are you looking forward to seeing more strong women on the screen?
