After Furious 7 grossed a stupendous $392 million worldwide in its opening weekend, another installment of the massively popular action franchise seems like more of a sure thing than Vin Diesel’s foot finding its way to an Dodge Charger’s accelerator sometime in the very near future. However, according to producer Neal Moritz, no one’s thinking about Fast & Furious 8 just yet.
Contrary to a Latino Review scoop yesterday, that told us Eva Mendes was being pursued to reprise the role of US Customs Agent Monica Fuentes for a story that would find Dom Torreto and his family of die-hard daredevils hitting the mean streets of New York, Moritz told The Hollywood Reporter that everyone’s taking a moment to bask in the glory of their latest success before even considering another ride:
“Honestly, we’re just bathing in the success of [Furious 7]. We’ll probably get together in a week or so to talk.”
Moritz reminded the reporter that Fast & Furious 8 is lacking some key components, including a script, director and locked-down cast:
“[The story] is going to have to be something enticing for all of us. It has to be as good as or better [than Furious 7].”
Of course, Universal chairman Donna Langley wants at least ten Fast & Furious movies, and with the box office returns on this last one, it doesn’t appear that the franchise will be running on anywhere close to empty for at least another few installments. And Furious 7 did leave some dangling threads, including Kurt Russell’s mysterious character, so the door is open for another direct sequel.
Whether all of the cast members will be up for it remains to be seen. Vin Diesel will certainly be back, seeing as he’s the franchise’s guiding light and has been since the first film. Luke Evans, who was in a shot of Furious 7, and other more recent villains have options as well. Dwayne Johnson, who only shot ten days on Furious 7, is a different story – his involvement is on a film-by-film basis.
Behind the camera, as well, there may be problems securing either Justin Lin or James Wan. The former is wrapped up in Star Trek 3, and Wan is shooting The Conjuring 2 this fall. It seems more likely that Wan will come back into the fold for Fast & Furious 8 after the Conjuring follow-up, but of course, only time will tell.
