It is pretty clear that The Fast and the Furious is one of Universal's biggest franchises, and after the huge success of Furious 7, the studio green-lit not one, but three sequels.  Fast8 is the first of the three, and it will be in theaters on April 14, 2017.  There has been a recent report that well-known British actress Helen Mirren will be in Fast8, and this is what is known about Fast8 Release Date and News.

There is a report on iDigitalTimes saying that Helen Mirren confirmed that she will be joining the cast of Fast8, but what is not known is what character she will play.  Even the imdb page is absent of a character name, but this is very common when the film is trying to keep a secret.  As for what role she will play, she only said that in most Hollywood movies, all the villains are played by Brits.

Mirren is a pretty serious British actress, even though she is the tongue-and-cheek host of Documentary Now.  She has other roles in her career that are not as serious, but she like the idea of doing the eighth Fast and Furious film, for the fun of it. 

The cast of the film includes another famous addition with Charlize Theron, playing the role of Cipher.  Other returning cast members include Dwayne Johnson, Jason Statham, Kurt Russell, Jordana Brewster, Tyrese Gibson, Michelle Rodriguez, and, of course, Vin Diesel. 

What is very interesting are reports that Paul Walker's character of Brian O'Conner will somehow make an appearance in Fast8. Apparently, Universal Vice-Chairman Ron Meyer confirmed that "Paul will be in it, but he will be represented in some form or another", according to Parent Herald. 

Paul Walker's tragic passing in 2013 created the need to do a rewrite to Furious 7 where Walker's character and Diesel's character walk down different paths.  Most of Walker's scenes were finished before his death, but effects shots with Walker's brother Cody Walker, allowed the film to finish properly.  It is not known if Fast8 will go that direction, and honestly, it doesn't seem proper to do this with the memory of Paul Walker still prominent. 

As far as what Fast8 will be about, Universal really wants to keep that under wraps, but all the posters promise "new roads ahead".  They also keep displaying city shots of New York City, which shows off the setting.  It looks like this trilogy of films will put the story to rest, assuming that Universal is willing to stop the cash-flow of this franchise. 

Fast 8 will be directed by F. Gary Gray, who directed another action film with car chases with The Italian Job.  As far as the exact release dates, there is an Instagram post that is announcing "2 Decades, 10 Films, 1 Saga" film number 9 has an April 19, 2019 release date and film number 10 with an April 2, 2021.