Looks like the man who reinvigorated the FAST AND FURIOUS franchise may return to drive it off into the sunset. Deadline is reporting that Universal and director Justin Lin are in talks for the filmmaker to helm the final entry in the series that will follow FURIOUS 7.
Lin, who directed four entries in the series, left after FAST AND FURIOUS 6 to helm the sequel to THE BOURNE LEGACY. But, as that film was pushed back to accomodate the return of Paul Greengrass and Matt Damon to the franchise, Lin is left with numerous projects in development but an open spot on his calendar. Conveniently, FURIOUS 7 director James Wan was recently announced to be returning for THE CONJURING 2 which leaves a slot for Lin to slide back into the franchise.
The only concrete gig on Lin’s slate is helming the first two episodes of the second season of HBO’s TRUE DETECTIVE with Vince Vaughn, Rachel McAdams, Taylor Kitsch, and Colin Farrell. Universal is rumored to be looking for Lin to finish out the FAST AND FURIOUS franchise with a “multi-part film”. Whether that means two films shot back to back or something else, it appears the end has come for the Vin Diesel series. With FURIOUS 7 set to hit theaters on April 3, 2015, I would expect production on the eight and final entry to begin sometime next year for a release of the first part as early as 2016.