No franchise is more important to Universal Pictures than Fast & Furious, the car-racing series whose seventh installment grossed $1.5 billion worldwide this year. But the effort to mount an eighth picture is proving more difficult than first imagined for the studio.
Following the death of Paul Walker in November 2013, Universal enlisted Diesel (a veteran of the series going back to the 2001 original) as the face of the series, updating fans on Furious 7 via his social media and putting him forward to speak about the cast and crew's desire to finish the movie, which was about halfway completed when Walker died.
Reportedly, film studio chair Donna Langley was eager to re-enlist Furious 7 director James Wan to direct the eighth and ninth installments who instead wishes to direct a sequel to his 2013 hit The Conjuring for New Line Cinema.
To that end, Universal has put out feelers to agents for experienced action directors (including Non-Stop's Jaume Collet-Serra, who wasn't available) and relative newcomers. Sources say Diesel must be consulted on director choices but does not have veto power over studio picks.
