Hobbs & Shaw

Did You Know?

• Ryan Reynolds and Kevin Hart make uncredited cameo appearances as CIA agent Victor Locke and Air Marshal Dinkley, respectively.
• The Eteon Director, a role Keanu Reeves was in negotiations for, does not physically appear and is voiced by Ryan Reynolds under the pseudonym Champ Nightingale.
• A RealD 3D conversion was originally planned but later cancelled, though the conversion was done by Stereo D.

Plot

MI6 agent Hattie Shaw steals a programmable supervirus called Snowflake from the techno-terrorist group Eteon in London. She is attacked by Brixton Lore, a former MI6 agent now working for Eteon and enhanced with cybernetic implants. Hattie injects herself with the only dose of Snowflake and flees, but Brixton frames her for the theft. Luke Hobbs, a former DSS agent, and Deckard Shaw, Hattie’s older brother and a recently pardoned ex-MI6 agent, learn about the missing virus and agree to work together despite their past rivalry.

Deckard goes to Hattie’s apartment for leads but is ambushed by Eteon operatives. Luke captures Hattie and takes her to a CIA office, which is also attacked. Brixton kidnaps Hattie, and Deckard recognizes him as an old colleague he once believed he had killed. Luke and Deckard rescue Hattie, but Brixton uses Eteon’s control over global news media to paint all three as criminals.

The trio finds Professor Andreiko, Snowflake’s creator, who reveals the virus was designed to deliver vaccines. To stop Eteon from using it to wipe out humanity, Hattie must either be cremated or have the virus removed with a specialized extraction device located at Eteon’s facility in Chernobyl. Using fake identities, they travel to Moscow, infiltrate the facility, and retrieve the device, but Andreiko is killed by Brixton and the device is damaged.

Luke takes Deckard and Hattie to his childhood home in Samoa to see his estranged brother Jonah, a skilled mechanic. Luke has a tense reunion with his family, whom he hasn’t seen in 25 years since he turned in their criminal father. Luke’s mother persuades the family to help. Jonah repairs the device and begins extracting the virus just as Brixton and his army arrive.

Hattie disables Eteon’s weapons for six minutes, allowing the Samoans to overpower the attackers. Brixton recaptures Hattie via helicopter, but the Samoans help Luke and Deckard bring it down. Together, they defeat Brixton, who is then deactivated remotely by Eteon’s unseen director and falls to his apparent death. The director sends a message, hinting he knows Luke personally and plans to recruit him and the Shaw siblings.

Production

Universal Pictures announced the spin-off in October 2017 with a release date of July 26, 2019, and Chris Morgan writing the script. Shane Black was considered to direct. David Leitch entered talks in February 2018 and was confirmed as director in April 2018, adding David Scheunemann as production designer. Vanessa Kirby was cast in July 2018 as an MI6 agent and Shaw's sister, with Idris Elba as the villain.

Eddie Marsan joined in October 2018, and Eiza González in November 2018. In January 2019, Johnson announced that his cousin Roman Reigns would appear as Hobbs's brother, along with Cliff Curtis, Josh Mauga, and John Tui as other brothers. Helen Mirren reprised her role from The Fate of the Furious. Principal photography began on September 10, 2018, in London, with Johnson joining two weeks later after wrapping Jungle Cruise.

Most filming occurred at Shepperton Studios and Leavesden Studios. In October, filming moved to Glasgow to recreate London, and also took place at Eggborough power station in North Yorkshire and in Farnborough, Hampshire. The Hawaiian island of Kauai stood in for Samoa. Cinematographer Jonathan Sela used Arri Alexa SXT and Alexa Mini digital cameras with Hawk Class-X anamorphic lenses.

Production wrapped on January 27, 2019. Scroggins Aviation Mockup & Effects supplied a modified UH-60 Black Hawk with a digital cockpit panel.

Reception

Hobbs & Shaw grossed $174 million in the United States and Canada and $586 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $760.7 million. Deadline Hollywood calculated a net profit of $84 million. In its opening weekend, the film debuted to $60 million from 4,253 theaters, finishing first. Its audience was 40% Caucasian, 27% Hispanic, 20% African American, and 13% Asian.

The film dropped 58% in its second weekend to $25.3 million, remaining first. Internationally, it opened to around $125 million from 54 countries. In China, it made $102 million in its opening weekend, the second-highest of 2019 behind Avengers: Endgame. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a 67% approval rating based on 341 reviews, with the critical consensus stating it gets decent mileage from its stars and action sequences.

On Metacritic, it has a weighted average score of 60 out of 100, indicating mixed or average reviews. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave it an average grade of A−, and PostTrak audiences gave it four out of five stars.

Sequel

In November 2019, producer Hiram Garcia confirmed intentions to develop a sequel. By March 2020, Johnson confirmed a sequel was in development, and Garcia announced Morgan would return to write. In November 2021, Johnson revealed he had developed an original idea for the sequel, which he described as the antithesis of Fast & Furious, and presented it to Universal chairwoman Donna Langley, Garcia, and Morgan. He said the sequel would take precedence over his other films after completing Red One.

Later that month, Garcia confirmed work on the screenplay was ongoing, calling the film very ambitious. In December 2022, producer Kelly McCormick stated production had stalled. In June 2023, Johnson announced plans for a direct sequel were postponed, and a standalone sequel titled Hobbs & Reyes, serving as a direct continuation to Fast X and bridging into the eleventh main film, was in development. Johnson and Jason Momoa are set to star, with Morgan returning to write and Garcia, Johnson, Dany Garcia, Vin Diesel, Samantha Vincent, Jeff Kirschenbaum, and Neal H. Moritz producing.