Word on the Web is Straight Outta Compton director F. Gary Gray is set to take on the next Fast and Furious film.
As noted by the AP, Gray shared the big news on his Facebook account. Universal Pictures later confirmed that Gray will direct the eighth film in the Fast & Furious franchise.
I could not have asked for better partners than Vin Diesel, Neal H. Moritz, & the Universal Studios Entertainment...
Posted by F Gary Gray on Thursday, October 8, 2015
Vin Diesel, who has starred in the franchise since its inception in 2001, recently shared a photo of himself and Gray with some Fast & Furious images on Facebook.
Back in September, it was announced that Gray set a new record following his work on the blockbuster N.W.A. biopic. Gray officially became the highest-grossing black director of a single film in domestic sales. As previously reported, Compton brought in an estimated $157.5 million in the U.S. and Canada, edging out Keenen Ivory Wayans, whose classic Scary Movie film pulled in $157 million back in 2000, and Tim Story, who earned $154.6 with Fantastic Four in 2005.
Upon the movie’s opening weekend, the film topped the box office and surpassed previously reported debut projections by a long shot, better than doubling the original expected take.
Earlier this year, Furious 7, directed by James Wan, brought in a staggering $1.5 billion worldwide. The film featured Paul Walker’s final appearance in the series. Walker died in 2013.
As far as the film's official title, Diesel revealed to MTV that it's still up in the air. He did, however, mention that he knows how the franchise will end.
“A lot of people are thinking ’F8,’ I just get lazy and say ’Fast 8′,” he said. “I don’t know if the official title’s come out yet. It’s never the official title. You have to understand. When you talk about titles and you talk about ’The Fast and the Furious’ the first movie all through production the back of my chair said ’Red Line.’ This is like, this is par for the course for the ’Fast’ franchise. We never know what the title is officially."
The eighth installment of Fast & Furious is slated to hit theaters on April 14, 2017.
