Earlier this month at CinemaCon, Universal Pictures threw all of its energy into celebrity performances from the likes of Octavia Spencer, Kevin Hart (holding a rabbit meant to represent his Secret Life of Pets 2 character), Tiffany Haddish, Danny Boyle—I could go on and on. But the particular highlight was a new Hobbs & Shaw trailer, which really amped the energy in the room.
Ahead of that happening though, Dwayne Johnson, Jason Statham and David Leitch were in attendance to talk about why the Hobbs & Shaw Fast and Furious spinoff movie is going to deliver the goods. The three men talked about how the Fast and Furious spinoff movie combines the cultures that Johnson and Statham are familiar with and grew up in, and there’s a specific moment shown in the trailer that is very near and dear to Dwayne Johnson’s heart.
Here’s what he revealed:
There’s a moment in [the] trailer where the energy changes… and there’s something called the Haka. You guys familiar with the Haka? OK great. Well, we don’t do that in this movie. But what we do is called the ‘Siva Tau.’ The Siva Tau is the Samoan version of the Haka and we still call upon our ancestors. [In this trailer] I leave the Siva Tau and for the very first time in a blockbuster tentpole movie we’re very proud to showcase our two cultures, England and culture Samoa.
There’s been a push to incorporate more from a diverse variety of cultures in movies lately. In fact, the Haka that Dwayne Johnson mentions was put to use at the Aquaman premiere by Jason Momoa and that culture was brought into that movie as well.
Dwayne Johnson is both black and Samoan and he has been open about his family’s history and his pride related to that history. He recently tweeted about how he was able to “transcend race in wrestling” so that he wouldn’t just “get booked that way," but he's ready to share his heritage in a big way in Hobbs & Shaw.
Johnson went on to state at CinemaCon 2019:
It’s the very first time we’ve seen Samoa ever featured and ever showcased in the movie…Yes we have the explosions and the epic-ness of everything you’d expect from a Fast and Furious movie but now you also have this mana, the spirit that we lived in Jason and I, David, all of us.
Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham went on to talk about the hugging – and joke about too close hugging—as well as talk about the camaraderie on the set of Hobbs & Shaw. So even though Deckard Shaw and Luke Hobbs have a bit of a competitive relationship, it’s clear the idea of “family” that’s such a big deal to the Fast and Furious franchise is going to translate into this new offshoot as well.
In terms of the Siva Tau, the Samoan war dance, we’ve already seen a preview of this sort of chanting thanks to an official photo shared by Dwayne Johnson himself.
If that image doesn’t already give you an idea of the vibe of Hobbs & Shaw perhaps a look at the new trailer is what you need.
Now that we’ve seen a the sneak preview at the scene, I’m very hopeful that you’ll get to see the special moment that was a big deal for Dwayne Johnson soon. After all Hobbs & Shaw is officially released on Friday August 2, which is not so very far away. More footage is coming and it will definitely be an explosive day when it does.
To check out what all Universal and the other studios have hitting theaters this year, take a look at our full 2019 movie schedule or take a look at what all is coming in Hobbs & Shaw with CinemaBlend’s full cast list.
