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Dwayne Johnson hypes up 'Fast and Furious' spinoff amid controversy

By Wade Sheridan
Dwayne Johnson (L) and Lauren Hashian arrive on the red carpet for the 89th annual Academy Awards on February 26. Johnson has commented on the upcoming "Fast and Furious" spinoff film on social media. File Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI
1 of 2 | Dwayne Johnson (L) and Lauren Hashian arrive on the red carpet for the 89th annual Academy Awards on February 26. Johnson has commented on the upcoming "Fast and Furious" spinoff film on social media. File Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI | License Photo

Oct. 10 (UPI) -- Dwayne Johnson defended his upcoming Fast and Furious spinoff with Jason Statham on Instagram Monday days after franchise star Tyrese Gibson slammed the actor over the project.

"Daddy's gotta go back to work ~ Hobbs," Johnson wrote, quoting his Fast and Furious character Hobbs alongside a video of himself interacting with Statham from the eighth installment in the series, Fate of the Furious.

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"Pumped to expand and build out the Fast & Furious universe in a cool, exciting way with our @sevenbucksprod, writer/producer Chris Morgan, producer Hiram Garcia and lead producer and my bigger twin, Neil Moritz," he continued about the project. "Thank you UNIVERSAL STUDIOS for being tremendous partners who see the big picture and for coming to us years ago with this spinoff idea. Huge shout to my brother, Jason Statham for the trust and wanting to create and deliver something fresh and bad ass for the fans."

"I have a tremendous amount of respect for this franchise that I've enjoyed droppin' blood and sweat in over the years and my vision is to create greater opportunities for not only my fellow FF cast mates, but for other amazing actors as well who want to be a part of something new and cool," Johnson wrote.

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"Let's have some FUN and to quote, Hobbs the boss, if you don't like it, we're happy to beat that ass like a Cherokee drum. #HOBBS #SevenBucksProds #NewOpportunities #CandyAssesNeedNotApply," the former WWE star concluded, possibly alluding to how Gibson is unhappy about the spinoff.

Daddy’s gotta go back to work ~ Hobbs. Pumped to expand and build out the FAST & FURIOUS universe in a cool, exciting way with our @sevenbucksprod, writer/producer Chris Morgan, producer Hiram Garcia and lead producer and my bigger twin, Neil Moritz. Thank you UNIVERSAL STUDIOS for being tremendous partners who see the big picture and for coming to us years ago with this spinoff idea. Huge shout to my brother, Jason Statham for the trust and wanting to create and deliver something fresh and bad ass for the fans. I have a tremendous amount of respect for this franchise that I’ve enjoyed droppin’ blood and sweat in over the years and my vision is to create greater opportunities for not only my fellow FF cast mates, but for other amazing actors as well who want to be a part of something new and cool. I want to use my spinoff platform to create new characters that fans will ultimately love to have fun with in multiple chapters and platforms. Film, TV, Digital, Virtual Reality etc.. the more opportunities we can create the better for the fans. Smart business. Let’s have some FUN and to quote, Hobbs the boss, if you don’t like it, we’re happy to beat that ass like a Cherokee drum. #HOBBS #SevenBucksProds #NewOpportunities #CandyAssesNeedNotApply JULY 2019

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The untitled spinoff is set to arrive in theaters on July 26, 2019. Universal recently delayed the release of Fast and Furious 9 by one year to April 10, 2020, something that Gibson blames on Johnson and the spinoff.

"Congratulations to [The Rock] and your brother in law aka 7 bucks producing partner [Hiram Garcia] for making the fast and the furious franchise about YOU," Gibson wrote on Instagram recently. "And like you, DJ even if they call I will not be deleting this post - Gn folks see you in 2020 April #FastFamily right? Nah... it's about #TeamDewayne #3yrs will it be worth the wait? #NoShaw just Hobbs will this be another #BayWatch? Guys guys just relax I'm just a passionate film critic."

Following Gibson's comments, Fast and Furious franchise star Vin Diesel also shared his thoughts on Instagram concerning the delay writing, "It would be unfair to say it is anyone's fault."

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