New Fast & Furious will hit Theaters in April

UNIVERSAL CITY, California — NBC Universal has decided to shove the fourth movie in the Fast & Furious series forward two months. That's right; instead of having to wait all the way until June in order to see the reunion of Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Michelle Rodriguez and Jordana Brewster in a bunch of high-performance cars, you'll be able to get your fix in April. Not even late April, but April 3 when the film — simply entitled Fast & Furious — shows up in every Cineplex ever built.

There's no word from NBC Universal as to reasons for the move, but principal photography on the movie was completed this past summer. So there's been plenty of time to get the post-production elements out of the way. But that's not the end of the story.

Word is that there will be some last-minute reshoots for the film next week for the purpose of shoehorning Tyrese Gibson's character Roman Pearce from the second film (2 Fast 2 Furious) into the new one. Rumors have it that Gibson will be piloting an Acura NSX during the film's climactic sequences in an appearance that amounts to something a bit more than a cameo. An eensy-teensy little bit more than a cameo. Hollyscoop.com has this video of Gibson explaining his involvement.

In the meantime, for those of you needing the adrenaline boost, here is the heavy-on-stunts teaser trailer that was released this past August. Inside Line put it up back then, and here it is again. It seems to have aged well.

Inside Line says: Releasing the fourth Fast & Furious two months early means we're two months closer to the release of Fast & Furious Five. — John Pearley Huffman, Correspondent