Bear in mind that "they've got hopes" only means he's who they want. It doesn't mean anything about his interest level. Although I wouldn't be surprised if he accepted it. The role would likely be minor, since Thing will be in rock form most of the time. And Willis won't have to endure hours of make-up each day. Plus the guy just made Surrogates, another less successful comic book adaptation.
Fox has also narrowed down their list of directors they're high on to direct the potential franchise, and it's a pretty oddball combination: David Yates(Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
); Joe Carnahan(The A-Team
); and James McTeigue(Ninja Assassin
). A decision is expected soon with an offer to follow shortly thereafter. Again, this doesn't mean the directors want to helm FF. Out of these three I can see McTeigue being the most likely to accept, with his penchant for wild, colorful gigs. He would probably bring the most far out style to the film, which I think it desperately needs. McTeigue is a former disciple of the Wachowski Brothers, and it's shown in his past work. While I have not been a fan of either V for Vendetta
or Ninja Assassin, his technique would be vastly different from the stale, almost Silver Age approach of the last two films.
