After the death of Paul Walker, the latest of the Fast and Furious series, Furious 7, had much difficulties to overcome and handle before the world premier. Despite the challenges, the action film still progressed to become the third highest-grossing movie of all time.
Keeping that in mind, with six previous successful films preceding Furious 7, the opportunity to direct number eight is surely a lucrative one, even though no one is stepping up to grab Vin Diesel’s ambitious venture.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, even though the former film grossed over a whopping $3.5 billion globally, Universal Studios is having trouble to find a suitable director for the eighth edition of the series. Previous director James Wan has rejected the offer and chose to concentrate on his horror sequel, The Conjuring. A source confirmed that the director feels the deal to be “life ending,” considering Furious 7 was extremely stressful for the 38-year-old and took a toll on his health.
“Obviously, if there was any issue, we wouldn’t be making the eighth [film] with [Diesel] right now. The studio and filmmakers loved working with James on Furious 7, but he was never in the mix for an eighth film due to a scheduling conflict with The Conjuring 2. We are actively casting and searching for the right director for the next chapter of the franchise,” said a Universal spokesperson.
It was even said that Vin Diesel himself was one of the reasons for the rejections to direct the film. The actor was accused of being “way too demanding” and as “difficult to work with.”
The film is scheduled to be released in April 2017.
