This past Monday, we reported that Hobbs & Shaw ‘s opening weekend box office gross ($US 60 million in North America) is the lowest in the franchise since Tokyo Drift‘s $US 23 million in 2006. Tyrese Gibson, who plays motormouth Roman Pearce in the franchise, screenshotted the headlines of the article and in a now-deleted Instagram post, took jabs at the film’s so-called lack of success. Gibson also criticized The Rock for breaking up the Fast & Furious family. Instagram page TheShadeRoom managed to screenshot Gibson’s post before it was deleted:
Tyrese’s caption read: The actor, who’s consistently one of the bright spots of the franchise went on to say that Hobbs & Shaw‘s $US 180 million ($US 60 million in North America + $US 120 million outside of North America) opening weekend gross is “NOT a big win.” Tyrese continued by saying:
I can’t help but wonder if Tyrese Gibson actually read the entirety of my article before proceeding to take swipes at Hobbs & Shaw and one of its leading men. In the article, I mentioned that while the popularity of the Fast & Furious franchise has been dwindling in North America, it still is a huge deal in China, in which Hobbs & Shaw has not opened yet. Furious 7 raked in a staggering $US 390 million there and The Fate of the Furious, $US 392 million. The Rock, individually, is a red hot commodity in China too. The Diehard ripoff Skyscraper raked in over $US 98 million there, which is about one-third of its total global gross of $US 304 million. This isn’t the first time that Tyrese has reacted this way. The actor previously bashed The Rock after the release of the eighth film in the franchise, The Fate of the Furious. Then too, he expressed his frustration towards the spinoff and The Rock. Hobbs & Shaw is currently playing in Malaysian cinemas.