Vin Diesel to announced Furious 8 director and says there will be one last trilogy
Last week, The Hollywood Reporter dropped a story in which they insinuated behind-the-scenes turmoil on Furious 8, the latest in Universal, Original Film and Vin Diesel’s mega-grossing wheelman franchise. Specifically, they pointed a finger at star Diesel as exhibiting a diva-like need to micro-manage the films as they search for a new director to take the helm, even insinuating that The Deez has designs to one day direct an installment himself. In response, the always-frank Diesel has reached out to his fans on Facebook to settle the controversy:
“The fans of the Fast & Furious SAGA are the best fans in the world,” wrote Diesel. “Since I became the Producer in 2008, you have been with me every step of the way… literally giving me feedback that proved invaluable. Thank you. My producing partner Neal [H. Moritz] would love for me to just sign off on a director, but this is too special a franchise, so these matters have to be very carefully handled. To be clear, NO ONE has been offered to helm ‘Fast 8’ yet… let alone seen a script. Universal has been so good to me and so trusting of the vision… they have been like family… I promised the studio I would deliver one last Trilogy to end the saga. I will announce the directors on my next post…”
As for the “trilogy” comment, does Diesel mean three films including Furious 7 or are we in for parts 8, 9 and 10? Only time and odometers will tell. Meanwhile there is no word on who could take the director’s chair yet, as the only name mentioned so far as a contender was Non-Stop‘s Jaume Collet-Serra, who apparently declined the overture due to his commitments to Sony’s In the Deep.
Diesel announced Furious 8 at this year’s CinemaCon after the unprecedented success of the seventh film, and he along with Jason Statham, Dwayne Johnson and Kurt Russell are expected to return, along with franchise regulars Michelle Rodriguez, Jordana Brewster, Tyrese Gibson, Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, Elsa Pataky and Lucas Black reprising their roles as street racers-turned-international criminals-turned-super-secret agents.
Universal Pictures will deliver Furious 8 for an April 14, 2017 release.
