Well, that didn't take long. Only yesterday a short list of directors emerged to direct Universal's Furious 8, a film they've been struggling to get off the ground over the last few weeks. On that list was F. Gary Gray, the red-hot director of Straight Outta Compton, and it looks like the job may be his.
Diesel, who needed to sign off on any director choices, posted a photo of himself with Gray, suggesting that he will be the film's new director. This hopefully puts to bed weeks of stories that Diesel wanted to direct the movie himself despite studio objections. Gray landing the job isn't surprising considering Straight Outta Compton made Universal a ton of money. He also has worked with Diesel before in 2003's action flick, A Man Apart. In Variety's short list report they mentioned that Gray is also a contender to direct Marvel's Black Panther, but they don't have any additional details. That film briefly had Ava DuVernay attached until she dropped out. Rick Famuyiwa (Dope) has also been mentioned as a possibility.
In all honesty, Gray isn't the most inspired choice but he makes for a more logical one than Louis Leterrier, Adam Wingard, and William Eubank. If the goal is keeping Diesel happy then hiring someone he's familiar with has to be paramount.
Furious 8 is set to hit theaters on April 14th 2017.
