DIGITAL TRENDS - Vin Diesel took to Facebook this weekend, praising fans and confirming news we have only previously heard from Universal Studios' big wigs -- there will be a final Fast and Furious trilogy.
The big question now? Who Diesel and his producing partners will tap to direct. The star's Facebook post indicates he has a few names in mind.
"My producing partner Neal would love for me to just sign off on a director, but this is too special a franchise, so these matters have to be very carefully handled," Diesel wrote. "To be clear, NO ONE has been offered to helm Fast 8 yet … let alone seen a script. Universal has been so good to me and so trusting of the vision … they have been like family … I promised the studio I would deliver one last Trilogy to end the saga. I will announce the directors on my next post "
Though Diesel did share that they have multiple directors in mind, there is one name fans can be sure it won't be: James Wan, the Furious 7 director who has formally opted out of Furious 8 to direct The Conjuring 2. Rumor has it that Wan had a lot of trouble dealing with Diesel on the set of the previous installment, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
For a while, many fans thought that the late Paul Walker's final film, Furious 7, would be the end of the road. The creative forces behind the franchise took a huge blow after the star's death, who played lead ensemble player Brian O'Conner in the majority of the seven films, and passed away in a tragic car accident in late 2013 on a break from filming.
But movie studios love nothing more than a sure thing, and the Furious franchise has been all that and more. The latest film has grossed over $1.5 billion since being released in April, making it the fifth highest grossing movie of all time.
Furious 8 is set for release in spring 2017.