'Furious 8 is a go!' Vin Diesel announces the next installment of the Fast And Furious franchise is set to premiere in April 2017

By Karen Mizoguchi for MailOnline

Published: 20:09 EST, 23 April 2015 | Updated: 03:30 EST, 24 April 2015

The latest installment became Universal Pictures's first film to gross $1 billion in just 17 days.

And on the heels of its success, Vin Diesel announced there will be an eighth chapter of the Fast And Furious franchise at CinemaCon in Las Vegas on Thursday.

'Furious 8 is a go!' the 47-year-old actor proudly said as he also publicized the expected release date to be April 14, 2017.

Coming soon: Vin Diesel announced there will be an eighth chapter of the Fast And Furious franchise at CinemaCon in Las Vegas on Thursday (pictured on April 1)

Coming soon: Vin Diesel announced there will be an eighth chapter of the Fast And Furious franchise at CinemaCon in Las Vegas on Thursday (pictured on April 1)

It's official: Universal Pictures released the first poster from Fast And Furious 8 on Thursday on their Instagram account

It's official: Universal Pictures released the first poster from Fast And Furious 8 on Thursday on their Instagram account

'We are making Furious 8,' he continued. 'And now the fun part: The date. I love telling you guys the date! #Furious8 will be yours to share with the world on April 14, 2017.

'I swear to you and I swear to my brother upstairs we're going to make the best movie you've ever seen,' he explained referring to the late Paul Walker.  

Walker - who portrayed Brian O'Conner for six films - died in an unrelated single-car crash on November 30, 2013, after filming close to 85 percent of production on Furious 7.

Universal Pictures released the first poster from Fast And Furious 8 on Thursday on their Instagram account. 

Vin has yet to announce further details on the forthcoming film but he did spill secrets about the location while appearing on Jimmy Kimmel Live on March 30.

'Furious 8 is a go!' The 47-year-old actor proudly said as he also publicized the expected release date as April 14, 2017

'Furious 8 is a go!' The 47-year-old actor proudly said as he also publicized the expected release date as April 14, 2017

Fallen brother: Paul Walker died in an unrelated single-car crash on November 30, 2013, after filming close to 85 percent of production on Furious 7

Fallen brother: Paul Walker died in an unrelated single-car crash on November 30, 2013, after filming close to 85 percent of production on Furious 7

'Kurt Russell came in for this movie but we really hired him for a story that follows this, that takes place in New York,' he said.

'You know these films I think of them in advance, I think of them as trilogies. So just some cool stuff that not everybody knows.'

While it appears Vin will be reprising as leading man Dominic Torreto, it is rumoured that Furious 7 director James Wan will not be returning.

Dwayne Johnson, Ludacris, Michelle Rodriguez, Jason Statham, Jordana Brewster and Tyrese Gibson have not been confirmed as a part of the returning cast. 

Furious 7 recently passed the $300 million mark in the States and hit the $1 billion mark internationally.

New details: 'Kurt Russell came in for this movie but we really hired him for a story that follows this, that takes place in New York'

New details: 'Kurt Russell came in for this movie but we really hired him for a story that follows this, that takes place in New York'

Returning too? It is still unknown if the rest of the Furious 7 cast will be reprising their roles with Vin

Returning too? It is still unknown if the rest of the Furious 7 cast will be reprising their roles with Vin

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