Winfree and Radulich review the latest billion dollar baby, The Fate of the Furious! The Fate of the Furious is a 2017 American action film directed by F. Gary Gray and written by Chris Morgan. It is the eighth installment in The Fast and the Furious franchise. The film stars Vin Diesel, Dwayne Johnson, Jason Statham, Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, Chris 'Ludacris' Bridges, Scott Eastwood, Nathalie Emmanuel, Don Omar, Tego Calderon, Kurt Russell and Charlize Theron. The Fate of the Furious follows Dominic Toretto (Diesel), who has settled down with his wife Letty (Rodriguez), until cyberterrorist Cipher (Theron) coerces him into working for her and turns him against his team. Plans for an eighth installment were first announced in March 2015. Preparations for the film began immediately after the release of Furious 7, with Diesel, Morgan, and producer Neal H. Moritz re-signing. After setting an initial release date in the same month, casting took place between April and June 2015. In October 2015, Gray, best known for directing Straight Outta Compton (2015), was announced to direct the film in the place of James Wan, who had directed the previous installment. Principal photography began in March 2016 in locations such as Mývatn, Havana, Atlanta, Cleveland and New York City, continuing the franchise's tradition of filming in different locations around the world. The film premiered on April 4, 2017 in Berlin, and was theatrically released in the United States on April 14, 2017, playing in 3D, IMAX 3D and 4DX internationally. The film received mixed to positive reviews from critics and has grossed over $532 million worldwide on a $250 million production budget, making it the fourth-highest grossing film of 2017. In its opening weekend, the film grossed $532.5 million worldwide, setting the record for biggest global debut ever. A sequel is set to be released on April 19, 2019.