It was previously reported that Vin Diesel and the executives over at Universal may have hit a speed bump in finding a director for "Fast and the Furious 8." Now it has been confirmed that "Straight Outta Compton" director F. Gary Gray will be helming the film, taking over James Wan, who had moved on to direct "The Conjuring 2."
Gray made the announcement himself via Twitter. It is undetermined at this point if Gray will continue to helm the series until its planned tenth film or if Universal will hire a different director for "Fast and Furious 9" and "Fast and Furious 10."
Cant ask for better partners than Vin, Neal & Universal. Excited to bring u the next chapter of the #FastFamily saga pic.twitter.com/zRGre14kKO
— F Gary Gray (@FGaryGray) October 8, 2015 " data-caption="null" data-credit="null">The announcement should be no surprise to fans of the franchise, however, since actor Vin Diesel already hinted that Gray was the one chosen to take over the director's chair when he posted via Facebook a photo of himself with Gray sitting amidst a framed collage of "Fast and Furious" photographs.
According to a report from Screen Rant, Gray would fit in perfectly in the "Fast and Furious" franchise not only for his recent work with "Straight Outta Compton" but also for his 2003 film "The Italian Job," which also featured vehicle-centered action, high-stake heists and character drama.
No official plot has yet been announced, although there are speculation's that Mr. Nobody (Kurt Russell) will play a major role following his introduction in "Fast and Furious 7."
Gray is also rumored to be one of Marvel's choices to direct the "Black Panther" film, starring Chadwick Boseman as the titular superhero, although with "Fast and Furious 8" expected to release in 2017 and "Black Panther" in February 2018, scheduling conflicts might force Gray to step away from the latter project.
"Fast and Furious 8" will see the return of Vin Diesel, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, and Kurt Russell carrying on the franchise for one last trilogy. The film is currently slated to release on April 14, 2017.
