Not unlike James Wan before him, Straight Outta Compton filmmaker F. Gary Gray faced a monumental task upon taking the reins on The Fate of the Furious.
The sequel formerly known as Fast 8 shouldered a particular weight of expectation prior to release because of Paul Walker’s tragic, untimely death – even if Universal considered incorporating a CG Brian O’Connor a la Peter Cushing in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story – and it’s a testimony to Gray and his crew that The Fate of the Furious managed to carve out a new chapter in Universal’s petrolhead franchise, all the while scooping up $1.16 billion at the worldwide box office.
It’s the beginning of an all-new and seemingly final trilogy of Fast and Furious movies at the studio – barring those standalone spinoffs, of course – what with plans in place for the as-yet-untitled Fast 9 and Furious 10 across 2019 and 2021, respectively. That doesn’t leave Universal with much time to get the gang back together, then, and for all of Fate‘s blistering success – commercially, if not critically – director F. Gary Gray revealed to Screen Rant that he’s not yet signed for Fast and Furious 9. He’s not the only one contemplating his future either, after series stalwart Michelle Rodriguez declared that she’s ready to part ways with the franchise unless the Powers That Be “decide to show some love to the women of the franchise on the next one.”
Here’s that quote from F. Gary Gray:
Right now I’m starting a company, so that is my focus for the last couple of months. I had a chance to take a week off, a vacation, and then jump into some prior stuff that I had to take care of. And in the midst of starting a company, so that’s what I’ve been dealing with.
Assuming the director finds time on his busy schedule to helm Fast and Furious 9, where would he like to see the franchise go next? Outer space, it seems, after the possibility of a space sequence was floated in the same interview with Screen Rant. In short: anything’s possible when it comes to Universal’s physics-defying blockbuster, particularly after Fate featured a chase sequence involving a nuclear submarine.
Outer space? Listen, I wouldn’t rule anything with this franchise. When I read submarine I’m like ‘OK, anything’s possible’. [Laughs] You never know. I haven’t read “Dom on Mars” yet but again, you just never know.
The as-yet-untitled Fast and Furious 9 is currently penciled in for release on April 19th, 2019. It’ll be followed by F&F 10 on April 2nd, 2021, while those of you pining to see Dom and the crew in action can look forward to The Fate of the Furious hitting Blu-ray and DVD tomorrow, July 11th.
