In Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw, The Rock and Jason Statham reprise their roles as Luke Hobbs and Deckard Shaw, two guys who really don’t like one another and have to work together. As we’ve seen from the trailers, that sets up a hilarious dynamic between the two full of insulting banter and physical threats. The two leads may not actually hate each other the way their onscreen counterparts do, but that hasn’t stopped them from engaging in a bit of banter themselves.
When Jason Statham was told that The Rock said his junket for Hobbs and Shaw is more fun, the English actor initially declined to start any one-upmanship. Statham then quickly changed his mind and decided to poke fun at The Rock for having motion sickness during filming. He said:
Ask [The Rock] about his motion sickness. I don’t know if you know this but when he was in the McLaren... he wasn’t actually in the McLaren. We had to CG him into the McLaren. One: his arse was too big to get into the seat, and two: he gets very nauseous when we’re going rather fast. Because he’s more used to driving these big lumbering trucks, so anything over 30 miles per hour, he gets a little nauseous
When it comes to behind-the-scenes production tidbits and multiple insults, Jason Statham plays for keeps. In the trailers for Hobbs and Shaw, we’ve seen shots of a scene where The Rock, Jason Statham and Vanessa Kirby are escaping from Idris Elba’s Brixton in a McLaren (a 720S if you’re in the market). Well, if what Jason Statham told Kevin McCarthy is true, The Rock wasn’t actually in the car and the reasons why are hilarious.
Jason Statham poked fun at Dwayne Johnson because apparently the ultra tough and physically imposing movie star gets a bit motion sick, so he can’t handle going too fast, which apparently is anything over 30 mph. The Rock is used to driving what Jason Statham, with a hint of contempt, referred to as “lumbering trucks.” Considering that the McLaren is built to go fast, 0-60 in 2.7 seconds and a 212 mph top speed, that wasn’t going to work.
Even if The Rock’s tummy wasn’t so easily upset, he still couldn’t have been in the McLaren because apparently he didn’t fit in it. It’s understandable for a large person not to fit in a low to the ground, cramped supercar, but it is still kind of funny, especially when paired with the motion sickness reveal.
Therefore, due to the McLaren’s interior dimensions and The Rock’s own physical limitations, he had to be CGI’d into the car alongside Jason Statham and Vanessa Kirby. So in addition to helicopter fishing and skyscraper running and all the special effects shots in Hobbs and Shaw, it was someone’s job to make The Rock fit into a car. ‘We’ll fix it in post’ indeed.
Lest you think that this would go unnoticed by The Rock, he took to Twitter to fire back and said:
Ahh look who has jokes when I’m not around to slap his lips off. Ask Statham why his voice sounds like a nasally prepubescent Harry Potter on crack. Now go make me some more Keebler cookies, my tiny friend
These two were clearly made for a buddy film. The Rock delivers the kind of hilarious insults and physical threats that he’s been doing since his professional wrestling days. It’s pretty funny, but if I’m scoring this round, I’ve got to give it to Statham for spitting facts about The Rock’s own weaknesses during filming and not just insulting his person. Either way, I look forward to more of this.
Hobbs and Shaw races into theaters, but not too fast and not without Dramamine, on August 2. Check out our 2019 Release Schedule to see what other movies are on the way this year.
