It was late 2016. The world was still processing the emotional weight of Furious 7 and the bittersweet goodbye to Paul Walker. Then, Universal dropped a bomb. When the The Fate of the Furious trailer (or simply the Fast Furious trailer 8 as many searched for it back then) premiered during a massive live event in Times Square, it didn't just show cars. It showed a brotherhood imploding.
Vin Diesel’s Dominic Toretto—the man who literally lectured us about "Family" for fifteen years—rammed Hobbs’ car off the road. He smirked. He worked for a blonde cyber-terrorist named Cipher.
The internet basically melted.
People weren't just looking for cool explosions; they were looking for an explanation. How could the guy who lives his life a quarter-mile at a time suddenly turn his back on his crew? That three-minute teaser became a masterclass in event marketing. It racked up over 139 million views in 24 hours, breaking records at the time. It wasn't just a movie promo. It was a cultural "where were you" moment for action movie fans.
Why the Fate of the Furious Trailer Changed the Franchise Forever
Before this eighth installment, the Fast movies were mostly about the crew versus an outside threat. You had the heist in Rio, the tank chase in Spain, and the skyscraper jump in Abu Dhabi. But the The Fate of the Furious trailer shifted the stakes from external to internal. By making Dom the "villain," director F. Gary Gray and writer Chris Morgan forced the audience to question the one constant in the series.
Honestly, the marketing was genius. They didn't lead with the cars. They led with the betrayal.
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Seeing Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson’s Luke Hobbs thrown into a high-security prison alongside Jason Statham’s Deckard Shaw—the guy who killed Han—was a wild pivot. The trailer leaned hard into that "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" trope. It promised a dynamic we hadn't seen: the heroes being outmatched by their own leader.
The footage also introduced us to Charlize Theron as Cipher. She wasn't a muscle-bound brawler like previous villains. She was a ghost. A hacker. She represented a shift toward the "super-heroification" of the franchise that would continue into the later sequels.
Breaking Down the Submarine Scene
If you ask anyone about that first The Fate of the Furious trailer, they remember the ice. Specifically, the massive Soviet-era submarine bursting through the frozen tundra of Iceland.
It was ridiculous. It was over-the-top. It was exactly what fans wanted.
By this point, the series had abandoned any pretense of being about street racing. This trailer solidified that Fast 8 was a full-blown global spy thriller. We saw a "wrecking ball" sequence in Berlin that felt like a demolition derby on steroids. We saw "zombie cars" raining down from Manhattan skyscrapers.
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But the submarine was the closer. It showed that Universal was willing to spend $250 million to see if they could top the "jumping between buildings" stunt from the previous film.
The Mystery of the "Why"
The biggest driver of search traffic for the The Fate of the Furious trailer wasn't the stunts. It was the "Why?"
Why did Dom turn? The trailer was carefully edited to hide the leverage Cipher had over Dom. It showed them kissing in front of Letty (Michelle Rodriguez), which sparked endless fan theories. Was it mind control? Was he a double agent? Was it a long-lost brother (a theory that ironically came true later in F-9)?
The brilliance of the edit was that it gave away the "What" but kept the "How" a total secret. It used a slowed-down, haunting cover of "Crazy" by Gnarls Barkley to set a tone of psychological unease rather than just high-octane hype.
A Pivot in Tone
F. Gary Gray, fresh off Straight Outta Compton, brought a grit that felt slightly different from Justin Lin or James Wan. The colors in the trailer were cooler, more desaturated. The New York sequences looked gray and industrial. The Iceland scenes were blindingly white.
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It felt colder.
This wasn't the sunny, Corona-sipping backyard barbecue vibe of the earlier films. The trailer promised a movie where the stakes were actually permanent. Even though we eventually learned Dom was being blackmailed because of his son, that initial teaser made us believe, for a fleeting second, that the Family was dead.
Real-World Impact and Records
When we talk about the The Fate of the Furious trailer, we have to talk about the numbers. It was the first time a trailer launch felt like a Super Bowl event. Universal took over 33 massive digital screens in Times Square. They flew the entire cast out.
- 24-Hour Views: 139 million.
- Previous Record Holder: Beauty and the Beast (127 million).
- The Result: A $1.2 billion box office run.
The trailer did its job perfectly. It sparked conversation. It created a "mystery box" scenario. And most importantly, it showed that the franchise could survive—and even thrive—without Brian O'Conner as a central protagonist, though his absence was felt by every fan watching.
Actionable Takeaways for Movie Buffs and Collectors
If you're looking back at this era of the Fast Saga or trying to complete your collection, here is how to consume the best version of this experience.
- Watch the "Director's Cut": If you only saw the theatrical version, seek out the The Fate of the Furious Extended Director’s Cut. It adds about 13 minutes of footage, including more banter between Hobbs and Shaw that was hinted at in the original trailer.
- Check the Soundtrack: The "Fast & Furious 8" soundtrack is one of the best in the series. Re-listen to "Go Off" by Lil Uzi Vert, Quavo, and Travis Scott. It was the anthem of that marketing campaign and perfectly captures the 2017 trap-pop era.
- The 4K Ultra HD Transfer: If you want to see that submarine scene the way it was intended, get the 4K disc. The HDR on the Iceland sequences is stunning; the contrast between the white snow and the black submarine is a benchmark for home theater setups.
- Study the Marketing: For creators, look at how the The Fate of the Furious trailer used "The Turn." By taking your most beloved character and making them the antagonist, you create instant engagement. It’s a trope, but when done with a character as established as Dom Toretto, it’s incredibly effective.
The legacy of the eighth film's promotion is that it proved Fast & Furious wasn't just a movie series anymore. It was an event. Every trailer since has tried to replicate that "Times Square" energy, but few have managed to shock the audience quite like the sight of Dom Toretto turning his back on his own family.