Considering that Furious 7 was considered a huge hit for Universal during the summer of last year, it was not "if" a follow-up film was going to be made, but "when". In the case of Fast and Furious, not only is Furious 8 coming, but films 9 and 10 are definitely on the way. This is the official news on the Release Dates of what will probably be the last films in The Fast and Furious franchise.
According to iDigital Times, Vin Diesel announced the release dates for Fast and Furious 9 and 10 with an Instagram post. What is strange is that he was dressed as Xander Cage, a character that he is reprising for XXX: The Return of Xander Cage. In short, he was announcing more to the Fast and Furious franchise while acknowledging the other XXX Franchise in the process. In case you are curious, these three films will be the "one last trilogy to end the saga", as stated by Vin Diesel.
Considering that Furious 7 ended the storyline featuring Brian O'Conner (played by the late Paul Walker and his brother Cody), it is suspected that Fast 8 (the first new film's official working title) will focus on Kurt Russell's Mr. Nobody, a character briefly introduced in Furious 7. It doesn't look like Brian O'Conner of any form will be in Fast 8, but there are many rumors pointing to the return of Eva Mendes as agent Monica Fuentes from 2 Fast 2 Furious.
There is already posters with images of New York, which means that Dominic and his gang will be going there, and there are even rumors of them going to Cuba. In fact, they might film in Cuba in spite of the country's laws prohibiting movies filming on their soil. Jason Statham's Deckard Shaw will probably make a comeback, and Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) will be back, according to Digital Spy.
Fast 8 does have a confirmed director of F. Gary Gray, who directed another action film with car chases with The Italian Job. As far as the exact release dates, there is an Instagram post that is announcing "2 Decades, 10 Films, 1 Saga" with Fast 8 on April 14, 2017, release date, film number 9 with an April 19, 2019 release date, and film number 10 with an April 2, 2021.
One thing that is odd about these films is how they are spaced two years apart. Generally, when studios make more than one film of a franchise at once, they tend to space them out only one year apart. Even the latest Star Wars movies aren't going for the three-year break in the middle like they used to.
