vin diesel

We’ve seen some insane things in the Fast and the Furious franchise, but eight movies in and now they’re straight up throwing cars out of buildings. The latest trailer for The Fate of the Furious is, as expected, bigger and crazier, with more cars, more explosions, and even bigger motor vehicles creating even bigger explosions. If you ever wanted to see Dwayne Johnson skate across an icy tundra and use his muscle to change the direction of a torpedo, you’re in luck.

It’s funny how things work out. When Marvel was putting together the cast for Guardians of the Galaxy, they probably never dreamed that it would be former professional wrestler and MMA fighter Dave Bautista who would emerge as the film’s most likable character. And yet, with his deadpan line deliveries and awesome physicality, Bautista stood out among his live-action costars  —  I mean, nobody was going to beat Groot  —  as the funniest and most sympathetic of all the Guardians. Just like that, Bautista was a bonafide movie star and one of the biggest strengths of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Vin Diesel is a pro when it comes to doing awesome things in places where they should not be done. He drove a muscle car out of a skyscraper in the most recent installment of the Fastly Furious franchise. In 2005 family comedy The Pacifier, Diesel brought white-knuckle secret agent action to a sleepy suburban neighborhood. And in a newly revealed clip from the upcoming xXx sequel Return of Xander Cage, he straps on a pair of skis and speeds through the jungle like it’s an Alpine black diamond trail. This is the poetry and pain of Vin Diesel, always pulling the raddest of stunts in the unlikeliest of spots — unstuck in time and place, an innovator unappreciated in his era, the Van Gogh of shredding the gnar.

Sometimes you discover something in your life that you didn’t know you needed until you finally have it. Take, for example, the brand new trailer for The Fate of the Furious. If you’d made me list the 100 different things I want from an action movie, I never would have thought to request a scene where a submarine chases a fleet of vehicles across an ice-field. Now that I’ve seen the first trailer for the film, I kind of wish every action movie was just that scene for ninety minutes.

We’ve done our waiting, and now it’s finally here — feast your eyes on the first official Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 trailer! All of our favorites are back, plus a few new faces and one very big tentacle monster. This trailer keeps the rock music vibe of the first movie alive with their choice of Sweet’s “Fox on the Run,” and it looks just as fun, if not even more fun, than its predecessor.

After sitting out xXx: State of the Union, Vin Diesel returns to the role of EXTREME sports enthusiast Xander Cage in xXx: The Return of Xander Cage. The first trailer for the reasonably titled sequel has arrived online, offering a sneak peek at Diesel and his new team of EXTREME sports pals and all their EXTREME sports skills — like skiing in the forest in the middle of summer — that will come in handy when they take on an international conspiracy.

The death of Paul Walker left some mighty big shoes to fill in the Fast & Furious franchise. Some film series might have packed it in after the death of one of its biggest stars, but the Fast-verse is a little bit different than your average blockbuster property. For one thing, characters have been coming and going from its ever-expanding storyline from the very beginning. For another, Furious 7 was the biggest movie in the series to date by a very large margin; it’s worldwide box office total was almost double that of Fast & Furious 6. So these movies aren’t going anywhere. But they do need some new stars.

Though Fast and Furious 7 seemed like an obvious, but tragic way to bring the franchise to a close, there was no way Universal Pictures was going to walk away from a franchise that was still bringing in over $350 million. So, Vin Diesel did what he does: he announced a new Fast and Furious trilogy last year that would end the franchise for good (and by “for good” we mean for a few years until they reboot it with a new cast). Fast and Furious 8 had already been scheduled for a April 14, 2017 release, but now Universal Pictures has given those last two Fast and Furious movies release dates as well.

With James Wan not returning to direct the next installment in the Fast and Furious franchise, Furious 8 is in desperate need of someone to sit behind the camera before Vin Diesel decides to just do the job himself. But it looks like Universal has narrowed their options down to just a few directors, each of them interesting choices in their own right.

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.

Fast and Furious 7 just made Universal over $1.5 billion and when you make people that much money, you can pretty much do whatever you want for your next project. Vin Diesel, the star of and producer of the Fast franchise, has that kind of clout now and has decided to use that clout to make…xXx 3?

Breaking news: people all over the world really like fast cars, movie stars, and constant references to family. Related: Furious 7 has just become the third highest grossing movie of all time, overtaking 2012’s The Avengers.