Vin Diesel

Last week reports surfaced that Universal Pictures was having an exceptionally difficult time finding a director to take on Fast and Furious 8, in part because Vin Diesel can be such a pain in the ass to work with. It was a damning report about the status of one of the most beloved and successful movie franchises, but Diesel himself has taken to his Facebook page to refute some of those claims and update on the status of the next Fast and Furious films.

The Fast and Furious franchise wouldn’t be where it is now without Vin Diesel. The films didn’t even kick into high gear until Diesel returned for 2009’s Fast and Furious, and the box-office numbers have been climbing astronomically since then. To say Universal owes Vin Diesel a gigantic debt of gratitude is an understatement, but exactly how much do they owe him? Would they actually let Diesel, who has little experience directing a movie let alone directing a movie on the scale of a Fast and Furious film, behind the camera of Fast and Furious 8? According to a new report, this may be what Vin Diesel wants and Universal is terrified.

Here’s some good news for your friends and #family: Universal has officially announced a special extended edition of Furious 7, which will arrive in stores this September. Along with a longer version of the film, you’ll also get over 90 minutes of bonus materials. That’s enough time to drink at least three Coronas. The studio has also released a trailer to get you properly revved up for the home release.

Furious 7 almost certainly won’t be the last Fast & Furious movie. But at times it feels like a series finale. There are numerous callbacks and homages to the franchise’s entire 15-year history. The setpieces are bigger and crazier than ever; it’s hard to imagine anyone topping them. And before the chases really get rolling, the mood is often downright mournful. Two different scenes are set in graveyards, and characters talk about taking “one last ride” together.

In honor of Furious 7, we’re taking a look back at all the major Fast & Furious fights (one or two punches doesn't count) in chronological order to see how this series has transformed. Major SPOILERS for all films ahead.

When Furious 7 premiered to an enthusiastic audience last week during the SXSW film festival, the screening was unsurprisingly focused on the absence of Paul Walker. Universal, director James Wan and the rest of the cast had a strange and difficult task. How, exactly, do you finish a movie when one of your leading men passed away in the middle of filming? And now that the film is finished, how do you address the elephant in the room?

Earlier this week, we were among those in the audience for the first ever Fast and Furious 7 screening at SXSW. It was an emotional affair, to say the least. It's not often you watch a movie where The Rock walks down a street shooting a helicopter out of the sky with a massive gatling gun that ends with everyone in the audience crying, but there we were. An entire audience still processing the grief and sadness of the death of Paul Walker. A few days after that screening, Vin Diesel hosted a similar screening in Los Angeles and introduced the film to the crowd. It was about as sad as you can imagine.

If you didn’t tune in for tonight’s premiere of DIG on USA, then you probably missed this new extended trailer for Furious 7. No worries—our latest action-packed sneak peek of the upcoming sequel has arrived online for your viewing pleasure. Although it packs some of the footage we’ve already seen in previous trailers, this extended look includes some new stuff we haven’t seen before and offers plenty to get your motor runnin’.

Few would argue that the turning point in the 'Fast and Furious' films is when Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson joined the cast in 'Fast Five' as federal agent Luke Hobbs. He brought a breath of fresh air to the 14-year-old franchise, but if things had gone originally as planned, he wouldn't even have been in the movie. 'Fast' producers originally wanted Tommy Lee Jones to star in the film until star Vin Diesel came to them with The Rock. And where did he get that idea? One of his Facebook fans suggested it to him. That's just one of the surprising 'Fast and Furious' facts in the latest installment of You Think You Know Movies!

Earlier this summer, Vin Diesel did an impromptu karaoke version of Sam Smith's "Stay With Me" for British radio. It was pretty rough, but not terrible considering it was (allegedly) his first time ever hearing the song. Well, after a few weeks to practice the song, he has posted a full cover of it, and somehow he's gotten even worse, as you can see up top...