If there’s one thing Vin Diesel loves, it’s communicating with his fans on social media. Whether it’s playing D&D at The Nerdist — which he did last week to promote The Last Witch Hunter — or sharing his ongoing quest to find a new director to join the Fast and Furious movie family, you can probably find the actor giving updates on Facebook before the information hits the big news outlets.
Fast & Furious 8 already has a theatrical release date set by Universal but one very important detail had been missing from the equation. While Vin Diesel teased the idea of possibly helming the next movie himself, Straight Outta Compton director F. Gary Gray took to Twitter on Thursday to confirm rumors that he will be the captain of Fast and Furious ship as it sails further forward into uncharted waters:
https://twitter.com/FGaryGray/status/652181877587992576
Who let the news slip first? Vin Diesel. Kinda. Earlier in the week, Diesel sparked rumors regarding Gray’s involvement in the project when he shared an image of the director to his Facebook page.
The choice for Gray seems like a no-brainer given this year’s highly successful NWA biopic. The deep search for a new director began after James Wan decided not to return to the franchise after having helmed Furious 7. Justin Lin, who directed four of the franchise’s installments, was unable to step in due to his shooting schedule with Star Trek: Beyond.
With one more trilogy expected in the giant franchise, Diesel will once again reprise his role and act as producer on the new film. So far, we have confirmations that Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham will return for a possible big-screen rematch, and a rumor that Kurt Russell may come back as well. As for regular cast members, both Ludacris and Tyrese Gibson will be back when the movie barrels into theaters in 2017.
(Via Variety)
