So how did it escape my attention for so long that a fourth entry in Universal’s Fast and the Furious franchise has officially been given the greenlight? Rumor has it that Vin Diesel, who has Babylon A.D. on tap and may or may not get that long-rumored, dream-project Hannibal flick off the ground (I’ll believe it when I don’t see it in theaters), will come crawling back to the series that first made him a household name, reuniting with Paul Walker. (Shirts will be optional, I feel certain.) Third flick director Justin Lin is also tentatively slated to return, along with Jordana Brewster, while 2004 Miss Israel Gal Gadot will apparently slot in nicely as the requisite bikini-chick eye-candy, according to FilmStew and others. No word yet on Bow Wow, alas, but knowing Universal I’m sure there already exists a treatment for a proposed spin-off featuring his Tokyo Drift character.

I’m trying to figure out why I should care, and am even posting on this… oh yeah, maybe because Babylon A.D. was originally supposed to release this weekend, and has now been pushed to August 29. That’s what sparked all this. Sigh…