'Fast and Furious 8' Cast & Release Date: Movie Might Film in Cuba

With a franchise as massive as "Fast & Furious" it's no surprise that Universal is looking to break more ground in the upcoming eighth iteration of one of 2015's biggest films. In fact, Variety reports that the studio is looking to bring audiences to Cuba by shooting scenes where no other big-franchise film has before. According to the media outlet, the filmmakers have flown to Cuba to research and look up some possible locations for the highly anticipated film, but nothing is set in stone at the moment.

"Universal Pictures is currently in the process of seeking approval from the United States and Cuban governments to explore shooting a portion of the next installment of the ‘Fast & Furious’ series in Cuba," Universal's spokesperson said.

This comes as no surprise, as Entertainment Weekly reports that the franchise has already taken viewers to locations such as Rio de Janiero, Dubai, Tokyo, and the Canary Islands. In addition, it has been almost a year since the United States and Cuba began to normalize diplomatic relations following 50 years of acrimony, EW reports, so this may be a good way to celebrate the two countries' relations.

Vin Diesel, who has since upgraded as producer of the franchise, already expressed his intentions of bringing "Fast & Furious" to its roots in New York, Cinemablend reports. However, if the plan pushes through, "Furious" would be the first big-budget film to shoot on the island.

Speaking of Diesel, the 48-year-old actor just accepted the awards for Favorite Action Movie and Favorite Film during this year's People's Choice Awards, where he paid tribute to his late friend and co-star, Paul Walker.

USA Today reports that the actor thanked the fans and launched into a sweet message about Walker, saying, "I think of Dom and Brian and I start to think of Paul. They said to make this short and sweet, so I will try to make this short and sweet. It was a labor of love."

"My only message to you is you’d be amazed what you can do with love. You’d be amazed at how powerful a force that is," Diesel admitted. "When we didn’t want to come back to filming when the tragedy was too heavy, it was the love of everyone combined that saw us through to the end."

"Fast & Furious 8" will be directed by "Straight Outta Compton" helmer F. Gary Gray and will be released on April 17, 2017.