'Hobbs And Shaw' Featurettes Bring Action And Laughs, But There's One Joke Idris Elba Turned Down
The end of summer needs a little energy. Thankfully, Fast and Furious is doing us the favor of presenting us with the blockbuster treasure that is Hobbs and Shaw. The action franchise spin-off will bring Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham back together as their characters from the Fast films are reluctantly forced to work together. But even though Hobbs and Shaw may not like working with each other, Johnson and Statham love it, and that's especially true when director David Leitch is in charge.
See them all enjoying their jobs in a batch of Hobbs and Shaw featurettes below, and discover the one joke Idris Elba thought was a little too on the nose to make it into the movie.
Hobbs and Shaw Featurettes
In this "Best of Frenemies" featurette, Johnson and Statham talk about the chemistry they had on the set of the Fast and Furious movies and how they grew to want a little something more out of it. Plus, there are plenty of great two-shots of them looking like badasses with various weapons in hand.
Of course, when you have two action stars like Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham starring in your movie, you want to give them something to do. That's why it's great that Hobbs and Shaw brought in stuntman-turned-filmmaker David Leitch (John Wick, Atomic Blonde, Deadpool 2) to ensure that the action wasn't anything to scoff at. Granted, there will be plenty of moments of disbelief, such as Johnson pulling a helicopter out of the air with his arm pythons, but that's exactly why we love these movies.
However, even though everyone had fun on this set, there was one joke that Idris Elba put the kibosh on. It's not because he's a party pooper or anything like that, but one particular line from the script hit a little too close to home.
In the epic trailer for Hobbs and Shaw, the film's villain, played by Idris Elba, refers to himself as "black Superman." But originally, his character, Brixton, called himself the "black James Bond." Because of all the requests (and senseless rage) there has been about Idris Elba potentially being called up to play 007 when Daniel Craig is done playing the secret agent, Variety says the actor thought it was "too close to what everybody's talking about." It would have been a cheeky one-liner, but Elba is probably right for it being a little too on-the-nose.
Anyway, we're sure there will be plenty of other great lines exchanged between Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham on this blockbuster ride coming to theaters next month. If there's anyone who can give us the big summer blowout we deserve, it's these two.
Ever since hulking lawman Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson), a loyal agent of America's Diplomatic Security Service, and lawless outcast Shaw (Jason Statham), a former British military elite operative, first faced off in 2015's Furious 7, the duo have swapped smack talk and body blows as they've tried to take each other down.
But when cyber-genetically enhanced anarchist Brixton (Idris Elba) gains control of an insidious bio-threat that could alter humanity forever — and bests a brilliant and fearless rogue MI6 agent (The Crown's Vanessa Kirby), who just happens to be Shaw's sister — these two sworn enemies will have to partner up to bring down the only guy who might be badder than themselves.
Fast and Furious Presents: Hobbs and Shaw crashes into theaters on August 2, 2019.