Fast & Furious 8 finding it tough to get a director in place?

It looks like Fast & Furious 8 is getting it tough to find a director as favourites Justin Lin and James Wan are tied up with Star Trek 3 and The Conjuring 2.

But how can this be? Surely the franchise which did the unthinkable and became one of Hollywood’s most ludicrous – and fun – series would have no issue getting a bum in the director’s chair? Well,it seems it’s a bit more complicated.

Currently being penned by Chris Morgan, the movie has now got star/producer Vin Diesel front and centre, with Universal basically making him the face of the franchise after the death of Paul Walker.

With Wan moving to do a sequel to his horror movie The Conjuring, Universal went to Justin Lin, the man who took the silly cars and bikinis movies and made them genuine action unmissables with parts three, four, five and six, but he was already set for Star Trek 3 and now it seems that they are getting it hard to find someone else willing to step in.

Why? Well, rumour is that Vin Diesel is an issue: “Sources say Diesel proved extraordinarily difficult [on seven]. As a producer, he is said to have questioned even small details on elaborate action sequences, often holding up the complex production. He also was known to summon filmmakers to repeated late-night script sessions to make him comfortable with his character and dialogue.”

Now Universal and, obviously, Diesel himself have said that this is nonsense, but we have to wonder, with Wan apparently offered astronomical money to come back for the eighth movie but refusing and the studio saying “We are actively casting and searching for the right director for the next chapter of the franchise,” why is it such a tough gig to fill?

We’re a little worried that the Fast franchise – which we have come to truly love – is perhaps stretching itself too far at this stage?

Let us know your thoughts.

Source: THR