Fast And Furious 8 News and Updates: What We Know About the Scenes Filmed In Havana, Cuba

The Fast and the Furious Crew has already landed on Cuba to start filming a few scenes for the eighth installment of the hyper-popular car-chasing franchise. The movie is reportedly getting more interesting as leaks of the movie's development start doing rounds on various online media outfits plus news of Hollywood A-listers joining the cast.

According to Movie News Guide, Vin Diesel hints of a possible Torreto family-origin storyline when he recently said that 'Cuba is where Torretos started.' For cast member Michele Rodriguez (Letty 'Ortiz' Torreto), Cuba is a seductive setting for Fast and Furious 8's backstory owing to the island's warm and exotic culture. Despite nearly half a century of isolation brought about by US embargo, Cuba seems to have retained its allure which continues to captivate even their powerful neighbor.

From the franchise's standpoint, shooting in Cuba reflects their desire to shoot in places where only a few people would like to explore. Since the first movie hit Los Angeles, subsequent films then shifted to a variety of locations from Florida, Tokyo, South America, London, and the Middle East. Scenes from exotic locations have become a trademark for the movie as celebrities deliver heart-pumping stunts.

Prior to the production stage in Cuba, Fast and Furious 8 went through a series of negotiations with the US and Cuban governments in the hope of shooting a portion of the movie scenes in the island nation.

"Cuba is a land that many know about, but few have seen. These productions are hoping to capitalize on the increased interest in Cuba," said John Kavulich, senior policy adviser to the U.S.-Cuba Trade and Economic Council, regarding his remarks of the deal, Cinema Blend reported.

To date, Fast and Furious 8 is the first big-budget Hollywood movie to set foot in Cuba following an easing of US-Cuba relations under President Barack Obama, a major turnaround since the 1959 Cuban revolution and the Cuban Missile Crisis which led the US to impose an economic embargo for half a century.

With the recent normalization process taking place, Hollywood filmmakers are now looking at capitalizing Cuba's seductive appeal and cheap labor for many of their future projects.

But of course what Hollywood pays is either double or triple by Cuban standards so for many locals, the arrival of America's film industry delivers a plethora of money-making opportunities which would have been impossible if the country remained economically isolated. With the coming of Hollywood to Cuba, the island nation is now becoming 'Havanawood', NPR reported.