Universal Pictures eyed three famous directors to helm the upcoming car-racing movie, including F. Gary Gray, the director of 'Straight Outta Compton'.
- Oct 6, 2015
AceShowbiz - There have been rumblings that "Fast and Furious 8" has encountered some problems in getting off the starting blocks. The eighth installment of "Fast and Furious" movie series has been struggling to find a director after James Wan decided to quit the franchise. Latest report from The Hollywood Reporter says Universal has chosen three names as potential directors to helm the upcoming racing movie.
The first name in the shorlist of directors is F. Gary Gray. He was the one behind the success of this summer's box office hit "Straight Outta Compton". A source considered him a frontrunner because he had an experience making a car-themed action movie such as 2003's "The Italian Job". If Gray ends up directing "Fast 8", the movie will reunite him with Vin Diesel, whom he directed in "A Man Apart".
The second name in contention is Louis Leterrier, the director of "The Incredible Hulk", "The Transporter" and "Now You See Me". Also competing for the directing gig is Adam Wingard, the filmmaker behind cult genre hits such as "The Guest".
Recent rumors said that Diesel wanted Rob Cohen to be the "Furious 8" director. The 48-year-old star then fueled the speculations by making a statement in his Facebook page. "There has always been the desire by Paul [Walker] to have Rob direct one more," Diesel wrote. "This is what fueled my campaign... I believe that he can and would reset the franchise nicely, returning to what was the core of the film in the beginning... racing."
"Fast and Furious 8" is due to hit U.S. theaters on April 14, 2017. Diesel and The Rock will reprise their respective roles as Dominic Toretto and Luke Hobbs with Jason Statham and Kurt Russell also expected to return.
