Charlize Theron Enters Talks To Board Action Sequel Fast 8 As Lead Villain

Imperator Furiosa herself, Charlize Theron has opened negotiations to join F. Gary Gray’s action sequel Fast 8, according to Deadline.

News of the Mad Max: Fury Road star being linked with Universal’s lucrative street-racing franchise should come as no surprise, given that the studio narrowed its villain hunt down to a sole female lead some months ago. Today’s tidbit is the first tangible sign though that those rumors weren’t merely speculative heresy.

No further details were given regarding Theron’s potential role, only that it will be an entirely new character for the Toretto crew to come up against. What we do know is that, should she agree to star, Game of Thrones actor Kristofer Hivju will play a henchman to Theron’s big bad.

Promising another globe-trotting adventure, it is Straight Outta Compton‘s F. Gary Gray that will take the reins of Fast 8, and the filmmaker has since captured scenes across Cuba and the Icelandic town of Akranes.

Chris Morgan penned the script for this new chapter, welcoming back Vin Diesel as Dominic Toretto, flanked by Michelle Rodriguez’s Letty, Lucas Black’s Sean, Tyrese Gibson’s Roman, Ludacris’ Tej, Dwayne Johnson’s Hobbs and Jason Statham, who is seemingly back in business as the villainous Deckard Shaw. Will the latter have some form of connection to Charlize Theron’s antagonist?

F. Gary Gray’s Fast 8 has set its sight on a worldwide release come April 14, 2017. It’ll be followed by Fast & Furious 9 and F&F10 when the sequels open on April 19, 2019 and April 2, 2021, respectively.