Vin Diesel kinda drops hint about directing ‘Fast & Furious 8’ himself

Vin Diesel suggested on Facebook Wednesday that he might actually want to direct Fast & Furious 8 himself, since Universal has no obvious director available for the job. The studio wants the movie out in April 2017, but no one has been hired to direct yet.

News on the project has been coming in quickly as of late, following reports last week that Universal was struggling to find a director. It was also rumored that Diesel made things difficult for Furious 7 director James Wan and that Diesel was even asked about potential directors for the next film, although he doesn’t have ultimate veto power.

On Monday, Diesel responded to these reports by not directly responding to them. Instead, he decided to announce that there will be an F&F trilogy to end the franchise.

Late Wednesday, Diesel returned to Facebook to address the director situation. He said that he had hoped Justin Lin could come back to the franchise, but since Universal wants F&F 8 out so soon, Lin couldn’t be hired. (Lin is currently making Star Trek Beyond and Wan is working on The Conjuring 2 and Aquaman.)

Diesel then shared an anecdote about his mother, who told him, “Either you direct 8 yourself... or don’t do it.”

He later wrote, “I wrote it off as just a mother’s love and belief in me, though she has seen first hand what I've done to make these movies defy expectations and become increasingly successful, even when the studio thought I was crazy... haha.”

Entertainment Weekly notes that Diesel did hint that he was trying to get Rob Cohen, who directed the first Fast & Furious and xXx, back to make one more movie. He also wrote that the late Paul Walker also wanted Cohen to come back.

“I believe that he can and would reset the franchise nicely, returning to what was the core of the film in the beginning... racing. He would also handle the Brian O’connor issue with integrity, given that he and David Ayer were the ones who initially created that beloved character in the first place,” Diesel wrote.

Here’s Diesel’s entire post: