8 Feb – Vin Diesel and the gang may not be fully aboard the Johnson-Statham movie but the wheel on the "Fast and Furious" spinoff project is still in motion, especially with a director now reportedly in early talks to helm it. "Deadpool 2" director David Leitch may be the one who'll end up behind the wheel for the upcoming "Fast and Furious" spinoff starring Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Leitch's action movie-helming resume includes 2014's "John Wick", though he was uncredited, last year's Charlize Theron-starring "Atomic Blonde", and "No Good Deed", the short film attached to "Logan" that served as the first-look for his latest work, "Deadpool 2". Being the frontrunner, if the deal is sealed, Leitch will be directing the spinoff from a script by "Fast and Furious" long-time writer, Chris Morgan. Despite Diesel and especially Tyrese Gibson having shown their dissatisfaction over the spinoff, Universal Pictures is understandably going ahead with the project since Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson is a bankable star. Plans to throw Johnson's character Luke Hobbs with Statham's Deckard Shaw materialised after the latter officially joined the franchise in 2015's "Fast and Furious 7" and the two characters proved to have quite an onscreen chemistry, enough to drive a spinoff focused on the two. The spinoff is slated for release in North America on 26 July 2019. In the meantime, Leitch's "Deadpool 2", starring Ryan Reynolds reprising his role as the titular antihero, is opening in cinemas on 17 May 2018.