Fast and Furious feud: Michelle Rodriguez responds after co-star Tyrese Gibson lashes out at Hobbs and Shaw
Stars of the original franchise are in disagreement over the box office hit
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Your support makes all the difference.Michelle Rodriguez has responded after her Fast and Furious co-star Tyrese Gibson lashed out at Dwayne Johnson spinoff Hobbs & Shaw.
The actor, who has appeared in the long-running franchise since The Fast and the Furious in 2000, revealed on Twitter that she’s “happy” for both Johnson and Jason Statham, adding: “Petty’s not my thing. Unity is everything, especially right now.”
Despite not directly referencing Gibson, her tweet clearly hints at his now-deleted Instagram post criticising the new film.
He shared a screengrab of an article that incorrectly indicated the film had flopped at the box office, writing: ”Breaking up the family clearly doesn’t have the value that one would assume it does.”
In 2017, the actor – who first appeared as Roman Pearce in 2 Fast 2 Furious – lashed out at the spin-off following Fast & Furious 9‘s release date change from 2019 to 2020.
Rodriguez, though, bears no ill will and praised the film for placing the spotlight on an “ethnic human”. Johnson is half-black and half-Samoan.
Since its release last Thursday (1 August), Hobbs & Shaw has knocked The Lion King off the box office top spot around the world and has hauled in global takings of more than $180m.
The franchise will resume proceedings with next May’s ninth entry. Director Justin Lin, a familiar name to those who’ve followed the series since its inception, will direct both the ninth and tenth entries.
Lin’s back-to-back sequels will be released just one year apart, with the untitled one due in April 2021.
Rodriguez, whose credits include Avatar and Lost, threatened to quit the franchise back in 2017 if producers didn't promise to improve representation of women in future instalments.
You can find a list of every single Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson films – ranked from least to most ridiculous – here and find out how new film Hobbs & Shaw shreds the Game of Thrones finale here.
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