A lot of original footage is being restored for The Fate of the Furious Director's Cut. Fate, of course, is the eighth film in the blockbuster Fast and Furious franchise which began with Vin Diesel and Paul Walker's super-charged original in 2001. With each film in the franchise, the action and intensity has grown, and so has the audience, with the last two installments – Furious 7 and The Fate of the Furious – each making well over $1 billion at the global box office. The Fate of the Furious also holds the distinction of having the all-time biggest opening weekend at the global box office with its blistering $532 million opening in April.
Fate signaled a change for the franchise with Gray taking the helm, marking his first film after the critically acclaimed NWA biopic Straight Outta Compton in 2015. And while Gray – whose credits also include Law Abiding Citizen and The Italian Job – delivered wall-to-wall excitement with the every second of The Fate of the Furious' 2 hour and 16 minute run time, apparently there's a lot more footage from the film that didn't see the light of day.
In an exclusive interview with Screen Rant, Gray explained what footage from the theatrical version of the film will be restored to The Fate of the Furious Director's Cut. Gary says:
"I said, "Hey listen, my original was longer. Let's figure out how we can put more action more laughs more character in an extended [version]. And the studio agreed that there was a lot of great stuff that ended up on the floor, so we ended up putting 13 minutes back into the movie. If you watch any of my movie you know I love humor no matter what the genre is, so there's more humor – it's funnier. More Roman, more lamborghini, more action, more hacked cars, more Cuba, more of some of the kind of the great's action moments. But there's also a few dramatic moments that I got a chance to let breathe a little. There are few between Charlize's character and Vin's character, so I'm really happy that they gave the audience option of watching an extended version. It's a little edgier and funnier, so that's what this cut represents and I hope that everybody gets a chance to see it."
Related: How The Fate of the Furious Retcons the Previous Movies
From Gray's description of what's coming in The Fate of the Furious Director's Cut, it sounds like a lot of quality work was left on the cutting room floor. Since there's a whopping 13 minutes put back in, it will interesting to see how the restored footage changes the tone of the film and complexity of the story; even a few seconds trimmed from a scene can alter a scenario entirely.
Whatever the case may be, an expansion of the Cuba racing scene that opened The Fate of the Furious and more scenes with the always entertaining Tyrese Gibson as Roman (whose ride in the film is a bright orange Lamborghini) will be more than welcome. Since action and humor are both key to the Fast and Furious franchise, fans are sure to embrace any additional footage Gray has assembled. Perhaps most interesting, though, will be the restored scenes featuring Theron's Cipher, who holds sway over Diesel's Dom. However, it doesn't sound like the deleted post-credits scene that catalyzed the Vin Diesel/Dwayne Johnson feud will be included.
The Fate of the Furious is now available on Digital HD, 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, DVD and On Demand July 11.