Looks like Rihanna has found a career in an unexpected place (forgive me), as the pop star is now reportedly set to join the sixth film in the recently revitalized The Fast and the Furious franchise. The Sun reports (via Cinema Blend) that Rihanna will play the villain in Fast Six or Fasixth or Another Fast Movie or whatever they’re calling it these days, a gig she snagged based on, of all things, the strength of her performance in Battleship.
A “source” (who is apparently a huge Rihanna fan) is quoted as saying, “Rihanna impressed with her acting debut in Battleship. Writers think she’ll be perfect for the role. Her character has plenty of bite and doesn’t take any prisoners — just like her in real life.” Of course, this news might need to be taken with a grain of salt – mainly because the Sun seems convinced that the last Fast film took place in Tokyo, so they might not be the most trustworthy of sources when it comes to all things fast and furious.
While our own Cole Abaius sunk Battleship in his review, he did note that the pop singer “is one of the few actually trying hard to deliver a real performance,” so reports of Rihanna impressing bigwigs with her work isn’t too insane, though it might be hard for most Americans to swallow before we actually get a chance to see Battleship on this side of the pond. The film opens in the U.S. on May 18.
Last week, we reported that Gina Carano was in talks to join the film as well, with the former MMA-fighter-turned-actress reportedly going for a role that would place her as part of Dwayne Johnson‘s character’s crime-fighting team (if you’ve seen Fast Five, you’re well-acquainted with both his character’s love of tough women to work with and his potential need to find a new lady to round out his team).
We don’t know much about the sixth entry into the franchise just yet, but we do know that Paul Walker, Vin Diesel, and Johnson will all return, and it’s a safe bet that we’ll see the bulk of the team coming back together again, as that worked out so well for Fast Five.
We also know that the film will reportedly be set in London (with possible other European locations), which makes sense at least in global terms, as any true fan of the series knows that the action of Justin Lin’s first Fast film, 2006′s The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift actually takes place after the other four films and presumably this latest one. What I’m saying is – we need to move Han (Sung Kang) to Tokyo, and we last left him in Germany. London is close enough for Han to high-tail it over to before he makes his break for Tokyo. Also, I really just like talking about Han.
Also, considering the havoc the crew has wrecked on locations in the United States, Japan, and South America, it’s high time that Europe see some rubber on the road.