“Fast & Furious 8” is already slated for an April 14, 2017 release. While talks have been going around on who the returning and new cast members would be, what is clear at this point is that the film still does not have a confirmed director.
While James Wan took the franchise to new heights by directing “Fast & Furious 7” which now stands as the fifth highest-grossing movie of all time, it seems that his engagement was just a one-shot deal. Reports have it that Wan will go back to directing what he does best and that is helming horror flicks. His best horror films include the “Saw” and the “Insidious” series.
There were also rumors that Justin Lin will be back to take on the director’s chair for “Fast & Furious 8” as much as he did in four other films of the franchise beginning with the third to the sixth movie.
However, producer Neal Moritz stated that they are still looking forward to the completion of the writing of the movie script before they hire a director for the movie, cites Christian Today.
Moritz explained that they have decided to take a different path in the movie’s development process this time around as they would wait for the availability of the screenplay first before they bring in a director.
He added that they have talked to a lot of directors already, but they have yet to come up with a decision on who to tap to helm “Fast & Furious 8.” The producer cited that they still wanted to know what the next movie of the franchise first before they hire a director.
The plans for the franchise was somehow put in disarray after the untimely demise of Paul Walker so they wanted the adjustments to be made on the screenplay first before hiring a director and let him or her take control of the plans from there.
Not coming back
Incidentally, although his character in the film, Brian O’Conner, did not die at the end of “Fast & Furious 7,” the producers and cast members of the franchise know that Paul Walker would no longer be back to reprise his role for obvious reasons.
While modern technology like CGI may offer the opportunity to bring back Paul Walker’s character to the next movie of the franchise, as much as the technology did with “Fast & Furious 7,” everyone knows and have agreed that Brian O’Conner has moved on and they will leave it at that, notes the Parent Herald.
Executive producer and lead actor Vin Diesel already dedicated “Fast & Furious 7” to Paul Walker so fans should accept the fact that Dominic Torreto’s team will never be complete again.
Walker’s legacy in the franchise is written all over the film. “Fast & Furious 7” did not only break the hearts of fans around the world, it also broke box-office records, running away as the most successful film of the franchise.
He was the one who first guaranteed that there will be a “Fast & Furious 8” and according to Vin Diesel, once a brother guarantees something, they have to make sure that it will happen. He said that “Fast & Furious 7” was for Paul and “Fast & Furious 8” is from Paul.
Casting reports
While “Fast & Furious 8” is still more than 20 months away from hitting worldwide theaters, several names of actresses have made the rounds in the internet as possibly the new cast members of the eight installment of the successful movie franchise.
Among them are Eva Mendes, who shall reportedly be reprising her role as Customs agent Monica Fuentes, which she last took on during “2 Fast 2 Furious” back in 2003. She also momentarily appeared in the post-credits of “Fast & Furious 5” back in 2011 where she said that Letty Ortiz, portrayed by Michelle Rodriguez, was still alive.