F. Gary Gray Expected to Direct 'Furious 8'

After a well publicized back and forth on who will direct Furious 8 over the past couple weeks, it looks like both Universal and Vin Diesel have settled on their choice: F. Gary Gray.

The Straight Outta Compton helmer reportedly took a meeting with Diesel last night (as the actor posted the above picture to his Facebook page) and word is that they have both agreed to work together on the 8th entry of the Fast & Furious franchise.

This is quite a big deal for Gray. His recent commercial and critical success with the NWA biopic has made him a hot commodity in Hollywood and certainly with Universal. He was their top choice to helm the follow-up to Furious 7 but had to get Diesel to sign-off first. Ironically, both Diesel and Gray have worked together in the past on 2003's A Man Apart.

While previous directors in the street racing franchise were bandied about to direct the 8th entry (James Wan, Justin Lin, Rob Cohen), some proved unavailable due to scheduling conflicts while others either weren't interested in returning or the studio wasn't high on bringing back. At one point it was thought Diesel might direct himself but obviously that was not going to happen with such a massive undertaking for a novice director.

Pre-production is already underway on Furious 8 with principal photography expected to begin next year for a release on April 14th, 2017.

Source: Deadline