Rob Cohen, the director who kickstarted the "Fast & Furious" franchise 17 years ago, has not helmed another installment ever since. However, there may be a chance of his return at some point in the future, or so he hopes.
In a recent interview, the filmmaker said that when the day comes for a final film, he would like to be the one to direct it. When asked about his potential return, Cohen told Screen Crush: "I always wished Universal would come back to me to direct the last one."
Of course, this is just wishful thinking for his part. Given how popular "Fast & Furious" has become today, Universal Pictures may have no plans of making a "final" film anytime soon. However, Screen Rant notes that they do plan on ending the core saga with two more films – "Fast & Furious 9" and "Fast & Furious 10" – both of which will be helmed by "Tokyo Drift" and "Fast & Furious 6" director Jeremy Lin. It will then continue with spinoffs based on the series' most popular characters like Dwayne Johnson's Hobbs and Jason Statham's Shaw.
Still, even if Universal does not tap Cohen again, the filmmaker is happy to be a part of the car racing franchise that has become a million dollar juggernaut today. "The franchise went from a Los Angeles story built around a family of multicultural brothers and sisters to what I'll call 'pure spectacle,'" Cohen said. "The beauty is that the audience has ridden along with it for these 18 years."
He went on to express his delight on how some of his characters from 2001 like Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel), Mia Toretto (Jordana Brewster) and Letty Ortiz (Michelle Rodriguez) are still included in the main saga.
"I started out to do a different thing, but the thing that I did implanted this world and these characters deeply in that audience," Cohen added. "And they're still coming for a hit of it. And most of the time when you go on the internet and [read] 'Which was the best Fast & Furious?' It's almost always mine."
Cohen has had a quite varied, post-Fast & Furious career. He helmed films like "Daylight," "Dragonheart," and "The Boy Next Door." He currently has a disaster epic coming up titled "Hurricane Heist."
As for Universal's franchise, the next installment would be the untitled Hobbs/Shaw spinoff, set for release on July 26, 2019. It will be followed by "Fast & Furious 9" on April 10, 2020.
