"Fast & Furious 7" was a massive hit for Universal Studios and broke a global record, becoming the highest-grossing "Fast & Furious" movie so far. Franchise stars Vin Diesel and Dwayne Johnson have dropped clear hints of sequel "Fast & Furious 8" being under way. But a new statement from the film's director, James Wan, raises questions about his return for Furious 8 and the future of the franchise.
In a recent interview with The Daily Beast, Wan spoke about the tough time he had directing Furious 7 and that Justin Lin should come back on the driver's seat to finish what he started. "No one knows how much we went through to finish Furious 7. I think it's a great idea for Justin Lin to come back. He had such a big part to do with where this series has gone, it would be amazing if he closed it out," said Wan, who is getting started to work on "The Conjuring 2".
Better known as the horror movie maestro, Wan had inherited the reins to the Universal series after longtime "Fast & Furious" architect Lin vacated the director's chair after the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth films. And the director says that his involvement in the future of the franchise really depends on what Universal wants to do moving forward. "They really have to think about how they want to proceed with it, and in a lot of ways, the next bunch would almost be like finding a new start," said Wan.
The statements maybe not entirely come across as confirmative, but get one thinking if the future of "Fast & Furious" is in a limbo.
On the other hand, Diesel recently said that Furious 7 is the beginning of a new trilogy, which aligns with earlier reports which suggested that the franchise will have a multi-part finale. This obviously doesn't mean Fast & Furious 8 – Part 1 and 2, but Furious 9 and 10 indeed.
Universal will undoubtedly go ahead with Furious 8, but how it comes together, who will don the director's cap and whether Lin be a part of just 8 or even helm the final two films — are things that need to some clarity at this point.
Various reports point that Lin will call the shots for the finale and that he is a strong choice to drop the curtain on the Furious series and take moviegoers on that "one last ride". But what ultimately will decide the fate of the franchise is whether the director will have the time or not.
