Charlize Theron has officially joined next year's Fast 8 (previously known as Furious 8) just one month ahead of production. Theron finally closed a long-rumored deal with Universal Pictures this week, according toDeadline. Fast 8, the follow-up to the franchise-defining Furious 7, reunites Theron with The Italian Job director F. Gary Gray.
Though Theron's character hasn't been revealed, the Mad Max: Fury Road star joins franchise vets Vin Diesel, Jason Statham, Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, and Dwayne Johnson in what could easily be described as the most-anticipated sequel of the decade. "We talked about all of the Fast movies up to this point, and where could we go," Gray toldCollider in January of reteaming with his A Man Apart co-pilot Vin Diesel for one of the biggest action franchises of all time. "I think [Diesel] was really happy with the vision I have for the franchise and I was really happy about where he sees not only his character going but the franchise itself, because he’s a producer as well."
Game of Thrones star Kristofer Hivju, a.k.a. Tormund Giantsbane, has also been added to Fast 8 as a proverbial villain. According to a report from the Wrap, Hivju will play a "henchman" to the main mystery (possibly Theron?) villain. For a possible glimpse at how the increasingly stacked proceedings of Fast 8 may go down, revisit some moments from the aforementioned Italian Job:
Fast 8 officially enters production next month and is slated to hit theaters on Apr. 17, 2017.
