Fast & Furious 8 Adds Charlize Theron as the Franchise's "Greatest Adversary" Ever

The rumors were right: Mad Max: Fury Road star Charlize Theron has come aboard Universal's upcoming Fast & Furious 8. This was announced today by the movie's producers in a post on Facebook, which explains what was rumored. Theron will play a villain--and a formidable-sounding one.

"Our crew will face its greatest adversary ever in our next film as we welcome Charlize Theron to the Fast family," reads a line from the post.

Fast & Furious 8 is directed by F. Gary Gray, who previously directed Theron in another car-focused movie, 2003's remake of The Italian Job. Theron also drove the epic War Rig in Fury Road.

Earlier this year, it was confirmed that there would be at least two more films in the blockbuster action franchise, with parts 9 and 10 due in 2019 and 2021.

Star and producer Vin Diesel's plan for more movies was revealed last year, when he stated: "I promised the studio I would deliver one last trilogy to end the saga." The actor has also hinted that additional spinoff movies could be made, focusing on some of the individual characters from the action series.

Fast & Furious 8 opens on April 14, 2017. The latest film in the series, 2015's Furious 7, was a huge hit, making more than $1.5 billion worldwide, according to Box Office Mojo.

The new movie will be the first without series star Paul Walker, who died in a 2013 car crash.