"One last ride", eh? Somebody's been sucking up too much carburetor exhaust, because Vin Diesel doesn't sound like he's ready for the Fast & Furious franchise to go on for a lot longer. But first there needs to be a Furious 8, and despite a release date in 2017 the film doesn't have a director. Multiple names were reportedly asked and turned it down, but the most interesting rumor has been that Diesel may want to direct it himself. Well, Diesel took to Facebook to address those rumors directly...
"My producing partner Neal [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...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.”
That would debunk previous stories claiming James Wan, Justin Lin, and Jaume Collet-Serra were offered the job.
On the one hand it's great that Diesel cares so much about the direction of the franchise and whether it continues to appeal to fans. On the other hand it shows just how much control he has over every decision Universal may want to make. That power supposedly led to some conflicts during Furious 7.
Whatever happens on that front, the next film will be the beginning of a brand new trilogy...the FINAL trilogy, or so Diesel claims.
"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. "
To be fair, this news is only somewhat new. When Lucas Black was brought back into the franchise it was part of a three-film deal, meaning his character would be sticking around through nine movies. So really this is only adding one more to the list, and can you imagine how epic a blowout a tenth and final Fast & Furious movie will be? They may literally jump a car to the moon or something.
