The Universal action franchise has been tearing up asphalt for almost 20 years now on the big screen and now it will be driving to the small screen in an upcoming animated Fast & Furious series on Netflix.
The show will be the first part of an expansion of the multi-year deal that Netflix has with DreamWorks Animation Television for original animated kids and family programs, with the expansion allowing the streaming service and studio to explore Universal’s film library for properties to adapt following the Comcast-NBCUniversal acquisition of DreamWorks.
The current deal has been ongoing for five years, with 14 series having already been released, including DreamWorks Trollhunters created by Guillermo del Toro, DreamWorks Spirit Riding Free and All Hail King Julien, with the studio having garnered 17 Emmy awards and 21 Daytime Emmy nominations.
The animated series will follow Tony Toretto, Dom (Vin Diesel)’s teenage cousin, as he and his friends are recruited by the government to infiltrate an elite racing league that is a front for a crime organization bent on world domination. Film producers Diesel, Neil Moritz and Chris Morgan are attached to the series as executive producers, while Tim Hedrick (DreamWorks Voltron Legendary Defender) and Bret Haaland (Julien) will serve as both executive producers and showrunners.
“We are thrilled to take our fantastic partnership with DreamWorks Animation to the next level with new opportunities from the vast library of Universal Pictures,” said Melissa Cobb, Vice President of Kids and Family. “The Fast & Furious franchise is a global phenomenon beloved by audiences of all ages, and we can’t wait to get started on the new animated series that will capture the action, heart, humor and global appeal of the feature films.”
“We are excited to extend and expand our successful relationship with Netflix by not only delivering more high-quality DreamWorks programming, but connecting fans of Universal films with fascinating new stories,” said Margie Cohn, President of DreamWorks Animation Television. “Our new home at Universal marks an exciting new chapter for storytelling at our studio, and Fast & Furious is only the beginning.”
While the series is currently in development, fans of the franchise can look forward to the next installment, Hobbs & Shaw, following Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham’s characters working together, which is set to hit theaters July 26, 2019.
