Director Justin Lin and star Jordana Brewster's return to Fast and Furious 9 has been joyously announced by franchise patriarch Vin Diesel.
The Pitch Black star made the revelation in an online video he broadcast from the set of the new film, adding the pair would be back for the 10th film too.
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In the action-packed series, Brewster played Mia Toretto, the sister of Diesel's character, Dom, and boyfriend of Brian O'Connor, who was portrayed by the late Paul Walker.
"You wanted 9 and 10 to be incredible," says Diesel in the Facebook Live video."We've heard your concerns about the saga and where it needs to arrive in its final chapters.
"This is so exciting... there's nobody more Torretto than my sister, Jordana Brewster, who is Mia Torretto.
"And those of you who know the franchise, know how much of a badass she is."
The reunion was also celebrated on Instagram.
Lin directed 2006's The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, 2009's Fast & Furious, 2011's Fast Five and 2013's Fast & Furious 6. He didn't do the two most recent movies, but his return for the ninth film will be well-received by hardcore fans.
In the video announcing it, Diesel called him a "forefather" of the franchise and "the one responsible for resurrecting this beautiful saga".
"Justin Lin is so old school, he's so part of the DNA of the Fast mythology."
After Walker's death, his character wasn't killed off in the series, but rather bid farewell to the crew and went into "retirement" with Mia at the end of the seventh film.
Their absence was referenced in eighth film, but Brewster's return raises the question of how her character can return, but not O'Connor.
Walker's brothers and Weta Digital famously helped finish his work in Fast and Furious 7 , and the return of Mia may also mean the return of a CG Walker.
Fast and Furious 9 is scheduled for a April 2020 release, while a spin-off focusing on the Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham characters is set to hit cinemas in July 2019.
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