There will come a day when Universal’s magic money generator known as the Fast & Furious franchise will be put into storage. (Shh! No one tell Bill Clinton!) Granted, roughly 20,000 spin-offs seem destined to be spawned from this high-octane collection of Foundation for a Better Life cinematic messages, but there’s a finish line in sight for the original collection of films, and Vin Diesel knows who he wants to direct the final entry.
If Diesel has his way, he’ll be bringing back Star Trek Beyond helmer Justin Lin to direct the 10th Fast & Furious motion picture, which is already equipped with an April 2, 2021 release date. Diesel’s plans were noted in a Wired profile piece on Lin that suggests the 44-year-old filmmaker is “the most important blockbuster director you’ve never heard of.”
“I’m going to bring him back,” Diesel says, when asked if Lin will direct the finale. “Whenever we had a day off — even on Thanksgiving, his favorite holiday — it was Justin and me working on how far we could take it. Success comes from 10 years of that mentality.”
Lin deserves a healthy chunk of credit for the longevity of this franchise, that a former Universal exec claims was in the neighborhood of direct to video, when the Better Luck Tomorrow director took the reins to craft box office barnstormers like The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, Fast & Furious, Fast Five and Fast & Furious 6. Directing the 10th film is something Lin seems game for.
“Vin says you finish what you started, and he’s very persuasive,” offered Lin on a potential return.
Diesel does seem like a pretty persuasive guy, but Lin’s schedule might be a bit packed if he’s going to keep his current collection of projects on the go. After all, Lin seems to be the dude who’ll finally make Space Jam 2 an unlikely reality, and we can’t imagine the TuneSquad are free of diva-esque behavior on set.
The F. Gary Gray directed Furious 8 is currently filming and is slated to hit theaters on April 14, 2017.
(via Wired)
