'Fast and Furious 8' rumors, release date: Bieber to play a new character?

"Fast and Furious 8" will hit the theaters on April 14, 2017, and as early as now, there are many rumors circulating all over the internet regarding the cast of the film series' eighth installment. The latest rumor has the Canadian pop superstar Justin Bieber joining the cast. He is set to play a role that has yet to be introduced in any of the previous "Furious" movies.

It was previously reported that Bieber will play the role of Brian O'Conner, which was played by the late Paul Walker in the previous six "Fast" movies. However, there was a complicated setup in the seventh "Furious" movie, as Walker died in a shocking car crash and he was not able to finish shooting his remaining scenes. To make up for the absence of Walker, his brothers Caleb and Cody Walker stepped in to make a CGI-enabled appearance of Paul in his remaining scenes as Brian O'Connor in "Furious 7."

Cody, who was the closest to filling in the shoes of his brother in the upcoming movie, was then reported to not be a part of "Fast 8," as Universal Pictures itself denied the rumor according to Polygon. This lead to a number of speculations and rumors as to who will replace Paul in "Fast 8," including the rumored acting stint of Bieber as O'Connor.

There are other rumors though that say Bieber will have a character of his own and not just a replacement for Walker or another actor in the film, as reported in Yibada. One report says that the character Sean Boswell (played by Lucas Black) will be the new Brian O'Connor in "Fast 8," and to complement this reported casting, Bieber's character in the movie will be a good friend of Boswell.

Other actors who are reported to join "Fast 8" are Cara Delevingne, Helen Mirren, and Charlize Theron, who will be the movie's big mean villain.