By Staff Reporter (media@latinospost.com) | First Posted: Jul 03, 2015 09:23 PM EDT

With "Fast & Furious 7" being so successful with approximately $1.7 billion worldwide box office earnings, fans are now wondering what will the next movie in the long running franchise give them?

At this point, there is much speculation surround the next installment but series new comer, Jason Statham has been reported by Master Herald to be returning to the series as the villain Deckard Shaw.

In an article by UK Blasting News, Statham has gone on record saying, "I'm a newcomer to the series, I just got invited to the party in this last movie. So it's nice to know that I'm going to be another. The second actor to confirm his return to the series is protagonist Vin Diesel."

However, there are rumors circling that other than Statham's character there may be a second villain for "Fast & Furious 8." It has been rumored that acting legend Dame Helen Mirren is to play a yet to be name villain for Dom and his crew to face up against.

While the rest of Dom's crew has yet to confirm their parts, there are still several characters that have yet to make into the main franchise continuity. One such character is Sean Boswell, who is played by Lucas Black. Boswell was the American high school star of the "Fast & Furious:  Tokyo Drift" movie. While Boswell did make a small cameo in "Fast & Furious 6" the character did not make an appearance in Part 7. Cinemablend has confirmed that Black did sign to act in 7, 8 and 9, so it there is a good possibility that we could Black's character in the next installment.

After the tragic death of Paul Walker, the character of Brian was written off the story. Paul's brother Cody Walker is reportedly getting a part perhaps as one of Dom's crew.

Vin Diesel has stated in several interviews that the main location for "Fast & Furious 8" will be New York City, what the crew will be doing there has yet to been revealed.  Diesel has also hinted that Kurt Russell's character, Mr. Nobody, will also be getting some major story time. Perhaps it's to thank Dom and the crew for saving his life?

"Fast & Furious 8" is set for release on April 14, 2017 at Universal's CinemaCon in Las Vegas, Nevada.