During his wrestling days, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson was known as the "People's Champion."

But thanks to franchises like "Journey to the Center of the Earth" and "Fast and the Furious," Johnson is now better known as Hollywood's box office champion.

In total, his movies have made $4.3 billion worldwide, which helped make him Forbes' top-grossing actor of 2013. This year, he ranked No.2 after pulling in a whopping $52 million.

This weekend, he appeared in Brett Ratner's "Hercules," which beat tracking estimates to bring in $29 million opening weekend.

Here's how Dwayne Johnson went from WWE wrestler to one of the top-grossing stars in the film industry.

Before he was "The Rock," Dwayne Johnson was born May 2, 1972, in Hayward, California.

Source: Biography

Wrestling is in Johnson's blood. His father, Rocky "Soul Man" Johnson, was a member of the first African American tag-team champions and his grandfather, Peter Maivia, was of the first Samoan wrestlers.

Source: YouTube

But Johnson's first sport was football. After being a high school star, he joined college football team, the Miami Hurricanes. Over his tenure at the school, Johnson only started once but appeared in 39 games, had 77 tackles, and was a part of the 1991 national championship team.

Source: ESPN

Ever since 2009, when Vin Diesel made his return to the franchise, the Fast & Furious series has been on a serious upswing. The $155 million take of Fast and Furious in the U.S. ballooned to $209 million for Fast Five, and that was followed last year with Fast & Furious 6's $238 million domestic box office total. The more sequels come out, the more fans seem to be getting excited. That excitement is seriously showing for Fast & Furious 7, as the feature is still more than half a year away from release and yet is the most buzzed about title across multiple social media platforms. 

The Chicago Tribune has been reading Digital Audience Ratings (DAR) statistics - a measurement to determine the content that is "resonating most across Facebook, Google+, Instagram, Tumblr, Twitter, YouTube and Wikipedia" - and their findings have concluded that Fast and Furious 7 was the most attention grabbing title on the internet over the last week. Much of this success has been attributed to the title's regular engagement with its Facebook audiences. As evidence of this, the newspaper pointed to a post about the Fast & Furious page hitting 50 million followers. This post got more than half a million "likes" and was shared by more than 20,000 people: 

The title that took second place according to DAR statistics is perhaps just as strange as Fast & Furious 7, though for completely different reasons. Seventh Son, the upcoming Jeff Bridges-led fantasy film, apparently relaunched its social media campaign this week, and it was rather effective when you consider its placement on the top five this week. The film has had a rough go of it in the last year, as it wound up being caught in the middle of the divorce between Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures. Originally it was going to be released this past January, but when Legendary moved to Universal Pictures the feature was bumped off of the release calendar entirely. Now it is being prepared to come out in February of next year - a good two months before Fast & Furious 7. 

Directed by James Wan and penned by Chris Morgan (who has penned every sequel since Fast & Furious: Tokyo Drift), the seventh chapter in the Fast & Furious saga will be bringing back together not only experienced franchise members like Vin Diesel, Paul Walker (RIP), Dwayne Johnson, Ludacris, Tyrese Gibson, Lucas Black, Michelle Rodriguez, and Jordana Brewster, but also newcomers Jason Statham, Tony Jaa, Kurt Russell, Nathalie Emmanuel, Djimon Hounsou, John Brotherton, and Iggy Azaela. The film is currently in post-production and will be in theaters on April 3, 2015. 

SEE ALSO: 'Fast And Furious 7' Releases Candid Message To Fans After Finishing Filming

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Vin Diesel has been quick to keep fans apprised of any "Fast and the Furious 7"updates on his Facebook account. 

Tuesday, the "Guardians of the Galaxy" actor shared new photos from the set featuring himself and the late Paul Walker who passed away late last year in a car crash.

The seventh installment in the series is expected to pick up where the last film left off with the group mourning the loss of one of the crew while seeking revenge on the man responsible played by Jason Statham.

The first photo shows Diesel as his character Dominic Toretto with both of his hands wrapped.

A close look at the background shows a photo off to the side with Diesel's on screen family including Walker, who he affectionately refers to as Pablo off screen.

The other photo shows Diesel dressed up in a scene with Walker.

Walker's character Brian O'Connor is supposed to be retired in the next film. The actor filmed many of his scenes while look-a-like brothers Cody and Caleb will also fill in for him. The film will reportedly use new technology to merge archived audio of Walker's voice with his brothers'.

Diesel also shared that he had a first look at the trailer for the film which he says left him "speechless."

Universal came to visit, to show the trailer for FF7...

Speechless... yeah, it was that INCREDIBLE!

I must also say, that it was emotional and bittersweet... we all went above and beyond to make Pablo proud, but man, I wish he could see what we have created and just how far we have come.

He added that the film should make Walker proud.

We wouldn't be surprised if we see a teaser trailer for the film soon. 

"Fast and Furious 7" will be released April 3, 2015 in theaters.

SEE ALSO: Vin Diesel: It has been 'awkward and uncomfortable' adjusting to Paul Walker visual effects in "Fast and Furious 7"

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The first trailer for "Fast & Furious 7," titled "Furious 7," is here!

Cast members Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Tyreese, Ludacris, Jordana Brewster, and Jason Statham premiered the trailer at a fan event hosted by E! in Los Angeles and it's full of fast cars dodging bullets and skydiving from a plane (why not?).

Statham will join the "Fast and Furious" franchise as the antagonist of the next film. Kurt Russell will also star while Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson will reprise his role from the last movie. The seventh installment will be the final onscreen appearance of Paul Walker who was killed in a car accident last November.

"Fast & Furious 6" made over $788 million worldwide. "Furious 7" will be in theaters April 3, 2015.

SEE ALSO: Some of the cars that will be featured in "Furious 7"

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"I don’t have friends," Vin Diesel explains in the explosive trailer for Furious 7. "I got family." And one member of that extended Fast & Furious family has to be director Justin Lin, who helped usher the series into its current golden age before moving on to greener pastures. But could Lin be lured back to the Furious table, possibly to bring closure to the high-octane series? 

This is the rumor being floated over at Deadline, where Mike Fleming reports that Universal might want Justin Lin to return to the Fast & Furious franchise in order to "wave the checkered flag" on the long-running series. Lin started directing Fast films back with the third chapter, Tokyo Drift. He endured the muddy, lackluster fourth installment, Fast & Furious before breathing hellfire into the series with Fast Fiveand Fast & Furious 6. But Justin Lin handed the reigns to The Conjuring filmmaker James Wan for Furious 7 -- a sequel that has been plagued by a serious of horrific obstacles, including the death of Paul Walker. 

The series appears to be back on track now, obviously, and Universal is gearing up for the April release of Furious 7. A while back, this movie was expected to be the start of a new trilogy of films, a storyline Vin Diesel and Paul Walker could milk for as long as their fans allowed. Now, however, we were all wondering if – in the wake of Walker’s passing -- Furious 7 would be the last go-round for this cast. Heck, Dom calls it "one last ride" at the 1:52 mark of this tremendous teaser trailer: 

But will it be? Given the amount of interest swirling around Furious 7 -- and the heat on the Fast & Furious series in general – we assume that James Wan’s movie is going to make boat loads of cash next year. We don’t yet know how the series will "retire" Paul Walker’s character, but it will be interesting to see if the door is left open for more Fast stories after Furious 7. 

If they do extend the brand, and decide to give the series one more movie, it makes total sense to bring Justin Lin back for the last film. And the pieces sort of moved into place. James Wan already has agreed to go back to horror, where he’ll direct The Conjuring 2. And while Lin has agreed to helm the first two episodes of the second season of HBO’s True Detective, he could shift to a final Fast & Furious after that. Right now, it’s a rumor. But it makes all the sense in the world. 

SEE ALSO: Check out the "Fast and Furious 7" trailer

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Filming of the seventh installment of the Fast and the Furious franchise, Furious 7, recently wrapped up and its first trailer released, but already there’s talk of the franchise being expanded with even more movies.

Recently, rumors emerged that director Justin Lin, who worked on movies three through six, could end up returning to the franchise to film its final installments.

Now, a Universal Studios executive has confirmed that more Fast and the Furious movies might be filmed.

During a recent roundtable interview held by The Hollywood Reporter, Universal boss Donna Langley said at least three more movies were possible when asked about the future of the franchise without the late Paul Walker, who played the character Brian O'Conner.

“We think there's at least three more,” Langley said. “Paul is, and always will be, an integral part of the story but there are many other great characters, and it's also an opportunity to introduce new characters.”

Langley went on to reveal that she thought the franchise was still growing and that the potential for any future movies hinges on what happens with Furious 7. However, she also said that the studio is cautious of potential “fatigue” of the franchise.

While fans are likely to salivate at the thought of more movies, the comment about introducing new characters is somewhat worrisome; let’s just hope we don’t have another Tokyo Drift coming down the line.

Furious 7 opens in theaters April 3, 2015.

SEE ALSO: The First 5 Cars From 'Fast And Furious 7' Are Revealed

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So far Star Trek 3 has had its fair share of losses in its making. J.J. Abrams, who directed Star Trek and Star Trek: Into Darkness, had to bounce from the project because he had to direct a little movie called Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Initially it seemed like the franchise would be left in good hands, though, as Abrams passed the director’s chair onto Roberto Orci, who produced both Fringe and Star Trek: Into Darkness with Abrams, so he seemed capable and a good second choice. 

But then, Orci decided to leave the project, as well, for what seems like reasons unknown. Maybe he just didn’t think he could live up to the work of his mentor Abrams? Couldn’t get along with Chris Pine? Who knows.

Thankfully, the film will, in fact, have a director. On Monday, The Wrap reported that Justin Lin had signed on to direct the project. Perhaps he doesn’t have the sci-fi chops that Abrams has (it’s hard to get to that level, let’s be real), Lin’s got some good stuff on his resume so far that will help him out directing Star Trek 3. He’s either directed or produced almost all of the films in the Fast/ Furious franchise, and most recently he directed two episodes of True Detective. 

Hopefully Lin stays on—the movie is slated to be released in 2016, which is plenty of time in the normal world, but when you account for making a $150 million movie, time probably flies when you’re spending dough. At least all of the cast has signed on so we can have dreamy Quinto-Spock again.

SEE ALSO: A Tech Entrepreneur Is Selling His Incredible 'Star Trek' House For $35 Million

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Days after Super Bowl Sunday, Universal has released the second full trailer for the next "Fast and Furious" installment — "Furious 7."

In addition to cars parachuting from planes and a car flying across skyscrapers, we get a better look at the sequel's new villain Deckard Shaw, a special forces assassin, who will be played by Jason Statham.

There are also women fighting in cocktail dresses in heels.

Vin Diesel, Dwayne Johnson, Ludacris, Tyrese, and Michelle Rodriguez all return along with the addition of Kurt Russell to the cast.

"Furious 7" is in theaters April 3 and is expected to be one of the year's biggest movies.

SEE ALSO: This is the car that flies between buildings in the 'Furious 7' trailer

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Dwayne Johnson recently went back to his wrestling roots when he made an appearance at the WWE Royal Rumble. 

He has come a long way since those early days.

In fact, most people today recognize Johnson for his big blockbuster movies, not his wrestling alter ego. Thanks to franchises like "Journey to the Center of the Earth" and "Fast and the Furious," Johnson has been able to seamlessly make a massive career transition.

He has been very successful, too. His movies combined have made over $1 billion, which is not an easy feat for anyone, former wrestling superstar or not.

Frank Pallotta contributed to an earlier version of this slideshow.

Before he was "The Rock," Dwayne Johnson was born May 2, 1972, in Hayward, California.

Source: Biography

Wrestling is in Johnson's blood. His father, Rocky "Soul Man" Johnson, was a member of the first African-American tag-team champions and his grandfather, Peter Maivia, was one of the first Samoan wrestlers.

Source: YouTube

Johnson didn't go straight to wrestling. His first sport was football. After starring in high school he played in college for the Miami Hurricanes. Over his tenure at the school, Johnson started just once but appeared in 39 games and had 77 tackles, and he was a part of the 1991 national championship team.

Source: ESPN

The next installment of the "Fast and the Furious" franchise, "Furious 7," isn't in theaters until April, but if you were in Austin, Texas this weekend you may have had the chance to see it.

Universal Pictures held a private screening to premiere the film late Sunday evening at the Paramount Theatre during SXSW, the music, film, and interactive festival.

Tyrese was in attendance to premiere the film for fans.

The seventh film in the long-running franchise is an emotional one. Originally set for release summer 2014, the film was put on hold after the death of lead actor Paul Walker in November 2013.

The screening went from midnight to nearly 3 a.m. 

The verdict? 

Fans loved it.

Fans say the film is a great send-off for Walker's character. 

Some say it's so good that it may be the best in the franchise yet.

Don't plan on seeing many spoilers for the film. Producer Neal Moritz, who was also in attendance, asked fans to not share the fate of Walker's character on screen, according to MTV.

“We obviously lost a dear friend, brother, comrade when we were making this movie,” said Moritz speaking of Walker. “He was really the best guy I ever met in my world — in my life. When we decided we were going to continue this movie, we were determined to honor his legacy and our love for him forever. I just want to ask one big favor of everybody. You guys are going to get to see the movie tonight without knowing what happens to Paul’s storyline. Whatever you want to say after the movie is cool, but please let future audiences see it the way you’re going to see it tonight.”

“I’m so proud of what we’ve done," Moritz added. "And I know Paul Walker would be smiling down on all of us.”

"Furious 7" is in theaters April 3, 2015.

Check out a trailer for the film below.

SEE ALSO: Here's the hypercar featured in 'Furious 7'

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Universal Pictures debuted seven private fan screenings of the new "Fast and the Furious" movie, "Furious 7," across the country Monday evening.

Fans in four of those locations were surprised when stars from the film including Tyrese (San Francisco, California), Ludacris (Atlanta, Georgia), Jordana Brewster (Miami, Florida), and Vin Diesel himself (Los Angeles) came out to introduce the sequel.

"Furious 7" was originally set for release in summer 2014, but was put on hold after the death of costar Paul Walker in November 2013.

Full clips of the actors' speeches haven't made their way online yet, but each of them made a reference to Walker.

Here's Tyrese welcoming the crowd in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Ludacris welcomed those at the first screening in Atlanta, Georgia and gave viewers insight into what went into completing the film. 

"There's a big misunderstanding," said Ludacris. "He [Walker] was done with about 80% of his parts in this movie before his untimely death. The whole production was shut down for about four or five months. We didn't even know if we were going to finish the movie." 

It was fitting that Diesel welcomed the crowd in Los Angeles where the franchise began.

"This is a very special movie as you all know. We made this movie with our hearts," said Diesel. "It was important to me to come."

Watch Diesel's full tribute to Walker below:

Earlier in the week, Diesel shared the following image from "Furious 7" with his Facebook followers:

"Furious 7" is in theaters April 3.

SEE ALSO: Fans loved the first screening of "Fast and the Furious 7"

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NOW WATCH: The new 'Furious 7' trailer is packed full of cars, explosions, and ridiculous stunts

This week, groups of "Fast and Furious" fans around the country got the opportunity to see the latest installment of the series before the film's release.

I was fortunate enough to be one of them, and I can honestly say I was blown away. "Furious 7" gave us the smorgasbord of insane action, goofy humor, and brotherly love we were expecting — and then some. It was especially satisfying for fans of exotic cars.

For the latest film, the "Fast and Furious" producers have taken their car game to a whole new level. Characters jump in and out of more European exotics rides, American muscle cars, and Japanese tuner mobiles than Katy Perry does wardrobe changes at a concert. 

But for all of the Nissan GT-Rs and Dodge Chargers in the movie, one car drew the most ooohs and aaaahs from the audience — the Lykan HyperSport.

The red Lykan's big scene, which was teased earlier this year in a trailer during the Super Bowl, featured the hypercar flying out of the side of one skyscraper — into another!

The driver is Vin Diesel's Dom Toretto character. The setting is Abu Dhabi. Diesel is being chased by an RPG-wielding Jason Statham.

This will be the first time many people have seen the Middle Eastern hypercar.

The Lykan HyperSport is built by Dubai-based W Motors and is the company's first attempt at producing high-priced automotive exotica.

The HyperSport is powered by a Porsche-sourced, 3.7 liter, twin-turbocharged, flat-6-cylinder engine that's tuned to produce 750 horsepower.

As a result, the hypercar is able to blitz the 0-60 mph run in just 2.8 seconds and reach an incredible top speed of 242 mph.

All of this performance doesn't come cheap. The asking price for the Middle Eastern exotic is roughly $3 million. Yikes!

Believe it or not, the Lykan's cinematic debut was not completely computer generated. In true "Fast and Furious" fashion, film makers actually drove the stunt car out of the side a set.

Granted, the stunt was performed much closer to the ground than depicted in the movie. But still.

"Fast and Furious 7" will hit theaters on April 3. Check out the complete  trailer here:

SEE ALSO: This is the $700,000 Aston Martin we've all been waiting for

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NOW WATCH: This custom-built $2 million supercar will race in the 24 Hours of Nürburgring

With "Furious 7"— the  latest installment of the "Fast and Furious" series —  set to kick off in a couple of weeks, we now know what car the film's villain will be driving. 

It's a Jag!

Played by action star Jason Statham, the sinister Deckard Shaw opens the film behind the wheel of a white Jaguar F-Type. 

Those who've been watching TV for past year shouldn't be all that surprised. 

Jaguar is in the midst of its "Good to be bad" marketing campaign, launched last year with a gloriously sinister Super Bowl ad.

The ad, featuring such stalwart British movie villains as Sir Ben Kingsley, Mark Strong — and Loki himself, Tom Hiddleston — explains why Brits make such great villains. Interspersed with the actors' speeches are shots of Jag's F-Type driving through London.

The campaign is meant to position the Jaguar as a sleek and attractive, yet naughty, alternative to the straight-and-narrow Mercedes and BMWs that dominate the luxury car segment. 

And it seems to have worked, with Jaguar Land Rover notching its best sales year ever in 2014. 

Like his fellow "Fast and Furious" characters, Statham's Shaw won't be confined to just one car. Throughout the film, Shaw will also be behind the wheel of a modified Maserati Ghibli and an Aston Martin Rapide.

And this isn't the only badness on film that we'll be seeing from Jag. The carmaker's terrifyingly gorgeous C-X75 will provide a wicked set of wheels for the villain in the upcoming James Bond flick, "Spectre."

The Jaguar F-Type sports car is the company's highly praised follow up to the legendary E-Type of the 1970s. With power coming from an available 5.0-liter, 550-horsepower, supercharged V8, the sleek cat can rocket to 60 mph in just 3.9 seconds, with a top speed of 186 mph.

"Furious 7" will hit theaters in the US April 3. 

Check out the official trailer here:

SEE ALSO: I Spent A Weekend Driving The Most Beautiful Car I've Ever Seen — The Jaguar F-Type Coupe

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NOW WATCH: Top Gear cast responds to Jeremy Clarkson's suspension

The seventh installment of the "Fast and Furious" franchise, aptly titled "Furious 7," is probably one of the most ridiculous non-stop action rides you'll see this year. 

It's also probably one of the few action films which will also reduce you to tears by its end. 

We attended one of seven fan screenings for the film held Monday night and reception for the film was overwhelmingly positive. 

The film, which was originally set to debut summer 2014, was put on hold after the death of lead costar Paul Walker in November 2013.  

For a while, it wasn't certain whether the cast and crew would move forward with the next installment. Fans are definitely happy they did. 

Applause opened and closed the film. 

Walker’s first appearance on screen was met with wild enthusiasm. While, yes, we were at a fan screening, this is something I expect will occur in most screenings of the film opening weekend. The "Fast and Furious" films have built up a big social presence across Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Unlike other films, the "Furious 7" team and cast update their accounts regularly and don't quit once the movie stops airing. 

Starring a huge returning cast of Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese, Ludacris, and the late Walker for one last ride, the film starts off tying the previous films in the saga together by merging the end of “Fast and Furious 3” (aka “Tokyo Drift”) with the end of “six.” That may sound confusing to outsiders of the franchise, but the film does it immensely well. 

Don’t worry. There's no need to go back and bingewatch the older films. "Furious 7" does a nice job of catching you up to speed if you haven't been keeping up with the story.

“Furious 7” kicks off with Jason Statham joining the cast as villain Deckard Shaw.

He's trying to hunt down all of Dominic Toretto's (Diesel) crew to avenge his brother, the villain from "Fast and Furious 6," who was left for dead in the last film. Before Shaw can do that, Dom plans to take him out first with help from Brian (Walker), Ronan (Tyrese), Tej (Ludascris), and Letty (Michelle Rodriguez).

From the start, the two-hour and 20 minute movie kicks it in to overdrive and never really stops. 

Highlights include big fight sequences between Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) and Shaw as well as showdowns between the latter and Dom that have been teased in marketing.

Rodriguez also has a memorable brawl going toe to toe with MMA fighter Ronda Rousey.

A part near the end of the film may remind fans of Johnson's next summer action flick, "San Andreas,"about earthquakes shattering Los Angeles.

Of course the cars are the big scene stealers here.

If you've seen the trailers, you already know what's in store.

Muscle cars parachute out of airplanes and a $3 million hypercar gets sent flying through buildings. 

That doesn't make them any less fun. They look even better on the big screen.

After binge-watching the six previous films ahead of "Furious 7," I'd dare to say "Fast Five" and "Six" are better plotwise than the latest installment.

Without getting into it too much, the main point of the film is for Diesel to get revenge and take down Shaw before he can harm his extended family. The mission gets sidetracked pretty fast when Diesel and his team get wrangled into a wacky chase around the world by the FBI (headed by another addition, Kurt Russell) for a valuable tech prototype before they can continue hunting Shaw. (Think CBS' "The Amazing Race.")

From there, the plot becomes slightly bloated with drones and hackers thrown in the mix, too.

But let's be realistic.

You don't go to a "Fast and the Furious" film for a serious plot. You head in to see the fast cars, Dom and Brian racing, and what ridiculous punchlines the Rock is going to deliver. 

These films know their audience and what they're doing.

Each film tries to top the last with even more ridiculous stunts. In 2001's first film, Dom and Brian tried to outrace a train. In "2 Fast 2 Furious," Brian jumped a car onto a yacht. The last film introduced a military tank to the mix and a wild scene with Vin Diesel diving out of his vehicle and across a highway. "Furious 7" more than upped the ante. 

Those who have been fans from its start in 2001 will be rewarded. 

Not only do actors from previous films — going back to the first release in 2001 — make short cameos, but diehard fans will notice specific references and nods to earlier installments. (One to be on the lookout for is *spoiler* that infamous wrench we learned Dom used to cripple a man in the first film. That sent him to the slammer for two years. *spoiler*)

More than anything, "Furious 7" is a tribute to Walker. 

Walker's brothers Caleb and Cody filled in to help complete parts of the movie that went unfilmed by Paul. In some brief moments, you may wonder if it's Paul or his siblings on screen, but you'd be hard pressed to think you're looking at anyone but Paul anywhere but in a few select scenes where the screen attention is taken off his face. For those worried that Walker may be lacking in the film, he's in the film nearly as much as Diesel. If anything, the Rock is in the film less than Walker.

The final 15-20 minutes of "Seven" definitely pull at your heart strings more than any of the other films in the ongoing series.

There's a scene in 2011's "Fast Five" where Dom gives a toast after everyone learns his sister Mia (Jordana Brewster) is pregnant. He says, "Money will come and go. We know that. But the most important thing in life will always be the people in this room. Right here. Right now. Salud mi familia."

Take away the flashy cars, the explosions, the scantily clad women, and the quirky asides and one-liners from Ludacris and Tyrese, and the "Fast and the Furious" series has always been about family.

That's one reason this franchise was able to rise back up in popularity after the fourth film when Diesel and the original cast returned. It modeled itself around the one thing his character Dom valued more than anything.

Behind the silliness and the action of the franchise, at the end of the day, the films are about Dom's extended family, an incredibly diverse one full of different races and cultures. Everyone can relate to that. Everyone has family.

I won't take away the ending of "Furious 7" from you. That's something that should be experienced on the big screen, but it is a fitting tribute to the late Walker.

Bring a tissue or two, because you're most likely going to cry. There's just no way around that. 

By the time you leave, you'll want to know the name of the Wiz Khalifa track responsible for your tears. Don't click the link to the song for now if you want to be surprised come April. 

Estimates are saying the film will make $100 million opening weekend. "Fast and Furious 6" made $97 million in three days. Over Memorial Day weekend 2013, it made $120 million. Since then, Vin Diesel has become one of the most followed celebrities on Facebook with over 90 million fans. There's also a big audience who wants to bid adieu to Walker's character on screen. That was evident from the screening we attended. We wouldn't be surprised if it made plenty more than that.

"Furious 7" is in theaters April 3.

SEE ALSO: The 'Fast and Furious' cast surprised fans at early screenings for the next film

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NOW WATCH: The new 'Furious 7' trailer is packed full of cars, explosions, and ridiculous stunts

Monday, Universal Studios debuted the seventh “Fast and Furious” film, “Furious 7” for fans at seven private screenings across the country over two weeks before its big screen debut.

Stars Tyrese, Ludacris, Jordana Brewster, and Vin Diesel showed up to introduce four of the premieres. 

Diesel opened the premiere in Los Angeles, where the first film in the franchise takes place.

There, he gave an emotional speech honoring costar Paul Walker who died in November 2013 in a car crash.

Since Walker's death, fans of Diesel have rallied behind the actor as he has openly grieved, sharing memoriesand photos of his time with the late actor, who he refers to as his brother and best friend Pablo, most noticeably on Facebook. He's shared updates about "Furious 7" online before Universal Studio made announcements.

Here's one of his most recent postings:

Diesel is now one of the most followed actors on Facebook with over 90 million followers.

Small snippets of Diesel’s conversation made their way onto social media, but we couldn’t find a full video of his over three minute speech to the crowd until now. 

Here's what he said to fans Monday evening:

I had to introduce the first screening in California where the whole franchise started. This was, as you know, this was a very, very personal and important film to us. Every time when I saw the movie at the premiere, Paul Walker and I would go up to the side, and he would always tell me, ‘Vin, the best one’s still in the can.’ Well, I hope tonight, you let Pablo know that this is the best one for you guys. 

If you love the movie, and I hope you do, I think you will, feel free to talk about it. At the same time, know that you are a select few that have been allowed to see this movie before April 3. So, think about that. And allow people to enjoy the movie and discover it for themselves. 

This was a labor of love. It was in some ways the hardest I ever had to do because the relationships that you see on film are so real. When the tragedy happened, I lost my best friend. I lost my brother. 

Tonight (here, Diesel takes a big pause as fans encourage him to go on) … what can I say guys, thanks for being my family. Thanks for always taking care of us. Thanks for believing in us. 

Thanks for taking the themes that we put in this action saga, and somehow applying it to your own lives. You know what’s most important in life. 

We truly made this for you. I said at the premiere at “Fast and Furious 6” at Universal Studios that we would bring the saga back home. And in this film, that’s exactly what we do. 

Please, from my heart, know that we made this movie from our hearts, and know that this is our gift to you. And, more importantly, it’s for my brother there.

Watch the full video below:

[h/t Cinemablend]

SEE ALSO: 'Fast and Furious 7' is an absolutely ridiculous thrill ride and Paul Walker tribute that fans will love

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NOW WATCH: The new 'Furious 7' trailer is packed full of cars, explosions, and ridiculous stunts

Take a hike, Jason Statham. 

A new actor has announced she'd like to play the villain in a future Fast and Furious installment, and it's definitely not a name that anyone saw coming.

"My great ambition is to be in a Fast and Furious movie, "Helen Mirren told Yahoo! Movies. "I so want to be a mad driver in a Fast and Furious movie. My claim to fame is I always do my own driving — I was on Top Gear, and I did [my lap] in a very good time. I keep putting it out there, and they never ask me. I’ll be in Fast and Furious 8."

The subject came up as Mirren was discussing the increase in good female action leads for young girls.

"Finally, you're getting great female teenaged heroines," she said, "I love that, I think that's great." But the real reasons for her Fast and Furious ambitions lie closer to the heart of that particular franchise.

"I have to say Vin Diesel is brilliant," Mirren explained. "I love Vin Diesel. He's a great guy, smart — I love him. It's partly because of him I'd like to be in one, but also the driving."

Furious 7, the latest installment in the pedal-to-the-metal (often literally) series, opens in theaters this Friday. 

SEE ALSO: Tons of New Yorkers saw a very regal-looking Helen Mirren riding the subway this weekend

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NOW WATCH: The new 'Furious 7' trailer is packed full of cars, explosions, and ridiculous stunts

“Fast and Furious 7,” aptly titled “Furious 7,” is in theaters this weekend.

While appearing on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” this week to promote the new film, Vin Diesel let a few details on the impending sequel “Fast and Furious 8.”

It sounds like the “Fast” crew is coming to NYC.

“You know I always think of these films multiple pictures in advance. I think of them as trilogies," said Diesel. "So, Kurt Russell came in for this movie ["Furious 7"], but he was really … we really hired him because of a story that follows this that takes place in New York.”

Kimmel didn’t seem to realize Diesel had dropped some info about the sequel, but Diesel knew he let some info slip. 

He looked at the audience right after saying, “It’s just some cool stuff that not everybody knows.”

“Furious 7” is in theaters April 3.

Watch the video below:

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The seventh installment of the successful "Fast and Furious" franchise is in theaters this weekend. 

Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese, and Ludacris return along with the late Paul Walker for another sequel to the epic car saga which started over a decade ago.

However, you may not realize that at the heart of the globe-spanning, physics-defying films lies a real-life story about street racing in New York City.

The movies, which have earned well over $2.3 billion globally, were inspired by an article from Ken Li in the May 1998 issue of Vibe.

"Racer X" tells the story of street racer Rafael Estevez from Washington Heights and how he transitioned into the sport of drag racing.  

The article also divulges on the popularity of Japanese import car customization and the operations in place to crack down on New York City street racing.

"Racer X" was a featurette available on a "Fast and the Furious" disc release that came out in 2002. 

In the feature, director Rob Cohen reveals he was inspired to make the film after hearing about the article and subsequently watching a race in Los Angeles.

As a result, Cohen convinced Universal to make the film and the studio bought the rights to the film from Li. 

2001's "The Fast and the Furious" was a film featuring an LAPD officer (Paul Walker) who went undercover into the world of illegal street racing to join the ranks with a well-established racer (Vin Diesel). 

The film, produced on an estimated $38 million budget, went on to make $207.3 million worldwide.

Watching the film now, it's easy to see the article's influence in the movie. 

Here are excerpts from "Racer X": 

A black Nissan 300ZX and a white Mitsubishi Starion pull out of the pack and creep up to the starting line. As the sun dances on the nearby river, the sound of honking horns and screaming drivers is drowned out by the sonic blast of the two engines revving for takeoff. A stocky Latino dude in a blinding yellow shirt stands in the middle of the highway and raises his hands. Both cars lurch and halt like chained pit bulls, their wheels spitting out black smoke. The hands drop.

Young men have been fascinated with tweaking and tuning big block Chevys and Mustangs since the days of Rebel Without a Cause. But the new guys wouldn’t be caught dead driving the gaudy muscular beasts of yesteryear. Instead, they’re tricking out low-buck Japanese imports like Honda Civics and Acura Integras and tattooing them like skateboards with Neuspeed and Greddy car parts stickers. By stroking the engine, adding a supercharger, and hitting the “juice” (nitrous oxide: a gaseous liquid once used to boost bomber planes in WWII), they can smoke the herb in the Iroc at the stoplight.

Read the full piece HERE.

"Furious 7" is in theaters April 3. 

Relive the trailer for the original film below which has a drastically different feel from the heart of the more recent additions to the franchise.

SEE ALSO: The cars that will be in "Furious 7"

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"Furious 7" kicks off the summer blockbuster season this weekend.

The film already has rave reviews, and analysts are predicting it will top $115 million at the box office opening weekend; however, it may come as a shock to learn that most of this hugely successful franchise almost never made it to the multiplex. 

According to TheWrap, the franchise stalled creatively after the second film in the series, "2 Fast 2 Furious."

2001's original "Fast and the Furious" movie with Diesel, Paul Walker, and Michelle Rodriguez made $207.3 million worldwide. 2003's "2 Fast 2 Furious" improved upon that slightly making $236.4 million worldwide with Walker returning as a co-lead and introducing fan favorites, Ludacris and Tyrese.

The third movie, 2006's "Fast and Furious: Tokyo Drift," revolved around a completely new character played by Lucas Black ("NCIS: New Orleans"). Without recognizable stars or a real connection to the first two films, it had the worst performance of the franchise with a $158 million worldwide gross.

As a result, Universal, the studio behind the franchise, came close to releasing sequels directly to DVD. 

"The talk internally was that the franchise was played out," Jeffrey Kirschenbaum, Universal Pictures co-president of production, told TheWrap. "At that point we were weighing whether to go straight to video or not for future sequels. We weren't sure what we were going to do."

What saved the franchise from direct-to-DVD purgatory?

Universal convinced Diesel to come back for a small, surprise cameo in "Tokyo Drift." (In return for an appearance, Diesel the rights to the actor's "Riddick" franchise.) After seeing the ecstatic audience response with Diesel in the picture, the studio decided to hand a large amount of creative control over to the actor.

Diesel is not just a producer; he considers himself to be the "saga visionary," as he does everything from structuring story to selecting songs for the soundtrack. Diesel has become the undeniable face of the series, and Universal knew that based off the huge amount of excitement over his surprise cameo in "Tokyo Drift." 

With Diesel back on board, Universal returned the franchise to its roots, focusing more on heists than underground street racing. Making the friendship between Diesel and Paul Walker the focus of the fourth film helped, given that the absence of one or the other in the second and third films didn't benefit the franchise. 

Another big factor in the franchise's comeback was its budding global appeal.

Even though "Tokyo Drift" flopped stateside ($62.5 million), its Japanese setting helped it picked up an extra $95 million worldwide, enough to help it recoup its estimated $105 million budget. So, Universal strung together a multi-ethnic cast to better reflect its diverse audience, from half-Samoan The Rock to Israeli actress Gal Gadot. Diesel even fought to bring back Michelle Rodriguez who appeared in the first film. 

Then, it took the crew all over the world, from Brazil in "Fast 5" to Russia, Spain, and England in "Fast & Furious 6." Its global ambitions have helped it gross over $2 billion worldwide.

The "Fast and Furious" franchise is now one of the 20 highest-grossing movie franchises of all time, even managing to beat out both the "Toy Story" and "Mission: Impossible" series. Since implementing many of these changes, the last three films grossed a combined total of $1.8 billion worldwide, constituting more than half of the franchise's total $2.3 billion gross.

Universal also embraced social media. They gave "Fast & Furious 6" the largest social media campaign in the studio's history, leading to a Facebook following of 34 million.

"Furious 7," meanwhile, has amassed a fan following of 53 million on its official Facebook page. This is impressive, especially when compared to the pages for upcoming anticipated blockbusters like "Avengers: Age of Ultron" (13.4 million likes) and "Star Wars" (13 million likes). It also helps that Vin Diesel has the biggest Facebook following in Hollywood, with nearly 90 million followers.

The best lesson Universal learned is that before sending your franchise to the $5 bin, listen to your fanbase, whether that be at test screenings or on social media. Having Vin Diesel onboard doesn't hurt, either.

SEE ALSO: The true street-racing story that inspired the 'Fast and Furious' movies

AND: "Fast and Furious 7" will likely be the next $1 billion movie

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NOW WATCH: Cars fall from the sky in the new 'Furious 7' movie

The "Fast and Furious" franchise has evolved from films featuring hot cars and hot babes to having some of the most heart-stopping stunts you'll find at theaters.

One of the men responsible for making those scenes look as realistic as possible is 30-year stunt veteran Spiro Razatos.

"For the fourth film ("Fast & Furious") they kind of relied too much on CGI," Razatos told Business Insider. "So they realized they wanted to do less. That's what I do."

Razatos is responsible for some of the most jaw-dropping sequences from the franchise including when Dom (Vin Diesel), Brian (Paul Walker), and the rest of the crew dragged a giant bank vault through the busy streets of Rio de Janeiro in "Fast Five."

He also worked on the duel with a tank in "Fast and Furious 6."

In both sequences, very little CGI was included, using real vaults and tanks to pull it off.

With fans starving for more, "Furious 7" director James Wan and the producers once again came to Razatos to take on the franchise's most insane sequence yet.

They called it the "air drop."

The idea was to have a sequence in the film in which Dom and company in their souped-up cars drop from a plane high above Colorado and parachute into the mountains below.

"When I first read [the script] it was, 'cars drop and they kidnap this girl and they get away on the road,' that was it," Razatos recalls.

The producers assumed the sequence would have to rely heavily on special effects, but Razatos had other plans.

"I said let's really go for it and make the effort because I want this whole sequence to feel real, that's what the audience expects," he said.

The stunt took months of prep time to solve problems. Cameras needed to be mounted onto cars in a way that they wouldn't be destroyed when the cars landed, and the crew needed a safe way to get the cars out of the plane.

"What if one of them gets stuck coming out of the plane?" said Razatos. "How is the plane going to land when you have a car dangling outside of it?"

They finally were able to do a "dry run," with a single car falling out of a plane. But some on the film weren't impressed by the raw footage.

"It was 20 minutes and the cameras weren't placed where they should be," Razatos recalls. "I remember telling the guys, 'ignore this, this is just a test.'"

With a green light, shooting took place in Colorado with two airplane runs, flying at 12,000 feet, that would drop two cars apiece.

Over 10 cameras were used for the sequence. In addition to cameras on the ground, there were cameras remotely operated inside the plane and another three mounted outside each car. Additional cameras were on a helicopter where Razatos was stationed watching monitors and listening to the radio chatter. Three skydivers used in the shoot wore helmet cams.

Skydivers would either jump out before cars or after them.

"I didn't realize how intense it would be," Razatos admits now.

"Sometimes a piece of debris would come off the car, so skydivers had to watch out for that," he added. "I'm in a helicopter and I want to get in close for the shots but you have to watch out because of the helicopter blades."

There were also spotters keeping an eye on how close the cars were getting to the skydivers. "On the radio you'd hear people say, 'Skydiver, 200 feet you have a car gaining on your two o'clock,'" Razatos said.

Regardless of all the safety precautions, accidents can happen. Razatos says in one of the runs a skydiver lost his footing getting out of the plane and bounced off the rear exit hatch on his way out of the plane. Not the most graceful of jumps, but Razatos said he was fine.

When one car landed, its parachute caught an air pocket and was carrying the car to the freeway. "I'm hearing on the radio the car is being dragged and it can't stop," said Razatos. "People were on motorcycles to get to the car; jumping on the car with knives to cut the parachute." 

And then there's the one car of the four that didn't make it because its parachute didn't deploy. "That car got demolished," said Razatos. "You got to see what would happen if a car really dropped from that height."

Much of what Razatos and his 2nd unit team did on the day made it into the final cut of the movie. Some of it was enhanced to increase the look of the speed at which cars were diving. Shots of the actors in the cars were put in later. But, for the most part, Razatos' mission to do the scene as realistically as possible was a success.

"I started doing stunts when I was 10 years old making Super 8 movies. This feels like I'm back in those days," Razatos said about working on the "Fast and Furious" films.

Thinking back on the "air drop" sequence he admits, "That's going to be hard to top."

Here's a behind-the-scenes look at how the sequence was done:

 And here's how it looks in the film:

SEE ALSO: Meet the sexy $3 million hypercar featured in 'Fast and Furious 7'

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