Furious 8 has seen its fair share of drama in the past couple weeks. First, rumors leaked about possible tension between franchise star Vin Diesel and Furious 7 director James Wan, and then Diesel went on Facebook to clear the air about the search for a new director. But now it seems the car-heist franchise is getting closer to finding a director.
According the The Hollywood Reporter, three names have risen to the top of the list to take over the franchise. F. Gary Gray (Straight Outta Compton), Louis Letterier (Now Your See Me), and Adam Wingard (The Guest) are names swirling around as finalists to land the coveted directorial job.
Gray, who is also rumored to be the frontrunner of the three for the job, has worked with Diesel in the past on A Man Apart and he’s also helmed big budget action movies (The Italian Job), not to mention his financial and critical successful NWA biopic Straight Outta Compton just this summer. Letterier has directed past action/adventure flicks in Now You See Me and Marvel entry The Incredible Hulk (the Edward Norton one). Wingard is the new kid on the block, with his biggest credit coming in the form of cult hit The Guest but who has also been hired to direct the graphic novel adaptation, Death Note.
With less than 19 months remaining until the planned release of the eight film in the franchise, closing the deal on a director should happen sooner rather than later. It’s the biggest franchise for Universal Pictures certainly- Furious 7, the latest in the franchise opened in theaters last April and earned $1.5 billion worldwide.
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