The first trailer teaser for Fast & Furious 8 has arrived. That’s the good news, assuming you want a tease of the first footage from the sequel. The bad news? Well the movie has a title, and it’s very, very dumb. The Fate of the Furious is the moniker that the eighth film in the Fast & Furious franchise will carry, because F8 sounds like Fate, and that’s super clever.

Although I suppose this dumb of a title is fitting for this franchise. Fast & Furious has never claimed to be the sharpest tool in the shed. Family is its motto, and the high-flying antics of the characters reached cartoonish levels in Fast Five—still the best film in the series—that telegraphed to the audience that these feats of action weren’t to be taken literally. Sit back, have fun, and soak in the #family atmosphere. So yes, The Fate of the Furious is a very dumb title. But are we that surprised?

The trailer teases offers a quick look at footage from the film, which brought in Straight Outta Compton and The Italian Job filmmaker F. Gary Gray to direct. Indeed, Furious 7 helmer James Wan was understandably exhausted after the herculean undertaking of that picture, which saw the production having to re-configure the second half of the film when Paul Walker tragically passed away in the middle of the production schedule. Furious 7 is certainly the most emotional film of the franchise and offered a fitting sendoff for Walker, so now it’ll be interesting to see what direction the franchise goes in this eighth installment. Of course there will be cars and explosions and a villain played by Charlize Theron, but given the “family” motto, one imagines Walker’s shadow will also loom large for the characters.

For now, take a look at the Fate of the Furious trailer tease below followed by the first official synopsis, and check back to watch the full trailer this coming Sunday, December 11th. The film also stars Dwayne Johnson, Jason Statham, Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, Nathalie Emmanuel, Elsa Pataky, Kurt Russell, Scott Eastwood, and Helen Mirren. The Fate of the Furious opens in theaters on April 14, 2017.

Here’s the official synopsis for The Fate of the Furious:

Now that Dom and Letty are on their honeymoon and Brian and Mia have retired from the game—and the rest of the crew has been exonerated—the globetrotting team has found a semblance of a normal life.  But when a mysterious woman (Oscar® winner Charlize Theron) seduces Dom into the world of crime he can’t seem to escape and a betrayal of those closest to him, they will face trials that will test them as never before.

 

From the shores of Cuba and the streets of New York City to the icy plains off the arctic Barents Sea, our elite force will crisscross the globe to stop an anarchist from unleashing chaos on the world’s stage…and to bring home the man who made them a family.

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Image via Universal Pictures

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