F. Gary Gray hopes that Fast & Furious 8 won’t feel like “more of the same”

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

It's pretty remarkable how long the FAST & FURIOUS franchise has lasted given its various reinventions and tragedies, but here we are, on the road towards the eighth installment of the series. Last fall, STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON director F. Gary Gray confirmed that he was set to direct FAST & FURIOUS 8 and he sat down with Collider recently to discuss what he has planned for the long-running franchise.

I’m probably not at liberty to go too far into detail. All I have to say is I’m extremely excited about the direction we’re going in, and we’re really pushing to make sure the audience feels like it’s not more of the same. They feel like it’s fresh, they feel like the characters they’ve come to know and love are there, but this is gonna be different, and that’s probably the most I can give you right now.

Given that the FAST & FURIOUS franchise has already successfully reinvented itself, Gray's comments seem to suggest that we're due for another shift. I've enjoyed the last few entries of the series a heck of a lot more than I ever thought I would, but switching things up can't be a bad thing, especially if there's already more sequel and spin-offs in the pipeline. Collider asked F. Gary Gray whether his focus would be on action set-pieces or character development, and the director revealed that STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS was serving as an influence.

When you look at someone like J.J. Abrams who gives you the spectacle and great action set pieces but also gives you character and plotting and narrative, I think it’s my job—and my intention—to do both. You amp up everything, you work on the performances, you work on the story, you work on the action; it’s just not one thing. Hopefully I bring more to it, that’s part of the point is to bring something different to the franchise while still satisfying what the fans want.

A week ago it was rumoured that F. Gary Gray was scouting locations in Cuba and, while he wouldn't confirm those reports to Collider, he did say that "it’s pretty profound some of the things that we’ve uncovered and how it’s gonna serve our story." What sort of elements would you like to see in the sequel and how would you like to see F. Gary Gray shake things up?

FAST & FURIOUS 8 is set for a April 14, 2017 release.