By NY Times
WHEN the cast of The Fate of the Furious — the eighth film in the “Fast and the Furious” franchise — hit CinemaCon to preview footage for theatre owners in Las Vegas on March 29, it was like a star-studded family reunion.
Longtime lead Vin Diesel gave a moving tribute to late actor Paul Walker and laughed it up with co-stars Charlize Theron, Kurt Russell and Tyrese Gibson.
But there was one member of the family missing: Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson, who has appeared alongside Diesel in the last four Furious movies.
Sources told The New York Post that’s because Johnson and Diesel can’t stand to be in the same place at the same time anymore after simmering tensions came to a head on the set of “The Fate of the Furious.” In fact, Johnson was at the same place just the day before, promoting buzzy blockbusters Baywatch and Jumanji to the CinemaCon crowd. Twelve hours later, he was on the Miami set of his HBO show Ballers.
But a Hollywood insider told The Post that it wasn’t TV work that kept Johnson, 44, from attending the Furious dog-and-pony show.
“I’ve been with this crew a lot,” said the Hollywood insider. “Vin decides who shows up [for promotional events]; he always has.”
Indeed, the franchise is Diesel’s baby. He’s been a producer on the movies, which launched him as an action star and have collectively earned a whopping $3.9 billion globally, since 2001’s The Fast and the Furious.
So when Johnson lashed out at Diesel, 49, near the end of filming for Fate, there were bound to be repercussions. On August 8, 2016, Johnson posted a scathing — but blind — Facebook attack on one or more unnamed male co-stars.
“My female co-stars are always amazing, and I love ’em. My male co- stars however are a different story,” he wrote. “Some conduct themselves as stand up men and true professionals, while others don’t. The ones that don’t are too chicken s***t to do anything about it anyway. Candy asses.”
Furthermore, he wrote, “when you watch this movie next April, and it seems like I’m not acting in some of these scenes and my blood is legit boiling — you’re right.”
According to TMZ, Johnson was boiling mad at Diesel repeatedly showing up to set late. Insiders reveal that the turmoil has been a long time coming.
“Dwayne finally lost patience after [multiple] films when Vin showed up late for their final [shared] scene on Fate, ” said another movie-business insider.
After Johnson’s social-media scolding, the two A-listers allegedly had it out in his trailer.
But Diesel did speak to USA Today this past week. “I don’t think the world really realises how close we are, in a weird way,” he told the newspaper. “I think some things may be blown out of proportion ... I know he appreciates how much I work [on] this franchise. In my house, he’s Uncle Dwayne.”
The wasn’t the first time Diesel has reportedly caused problems on set. In 2014, while shooting Furious 7, he spent a whole day locked in his trailer, then demanded Universal execs show up so he could berate them — for 2.5 hours, according to the Hollywood Reporter. The next day on set, work was done by stunt doubles.
Johnson, meanwhile, is seen as the nice guy on set, and in Hollywood at large. Said one celebrity publicist close to the films, “Vin is always a douche” on set, and “Dwayne is always a doll.”
The crew, apparently, sided with Johnson on the set of “Fate.” TMZ reported that many people got sick of Diesel holding up shooting by showing up late and goading people — including Johnson — by criticising their acting.
As for Johnson, a source close to the film’s crew called him “the ultimate professional.”
It’s worth noting that the two do play frenemies-turned-furious enemies in Fate, in which Vin’s Dominic Toretto betrays his family. Could the feud have been concocted to notch up even more interest? After all, an insider told the Hollywood Reporter that Universal, the studio behind Furious, was “keeping [Johnson and Diesel] as separated as possible.”
While Diesel has already signed on to star in Furious instalments 9 and 10 — and even Gibson is already locked and loaded for No. 9 — no announcements have been made about Johnson’s fate in the franchise.
“I protect the franchise. I protect everybody including Dwayne,” Diesel told USA Today. “I protected Dwayne more than he’ll ever know.
“If [Johnson] does return,” says a knowledgeable casting director, “I doubt things will change on set. It’s Vin’s show. He can be late when everyone else has to be on time.”
But since it is Diesel’s show, “Daddy” probably won’t want to jeopardise his bank account. Johnson may not need the Furious movies to pump up his career at this point, but, said the casting director source, “the franchise would make less money without him.”
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