Vin Diesel Wants Rob Cohen For ‘Furious 8’ Director; Studio Eyes Louis Leterrier
Last week we heardFurious 8was havinga bit of troublekicking into gear. One of the biggest sticking points was the question of who would steer the film, since scheduling conflicts put previous franchise directorsJustin LinandJames Wanout of the running.
NowVin Diesel’s latest Facebook posts suggest two possibilities:Rob Cohen, who helmed the originalThe Fast and the Furious, and Diesel himself. Meanwhile, studio Universal is reportedly eyeingEricson Core(of thePoint Breakremake) andLouis Leterrier(Now You See Me). Let’s run down the possibilities for theFurious 8director after the jump.
At this point, what we know for sure is that theFurious 8director gig won’t go to Lin or Wan. Lin choseStar Trek BeyondoverFurious 8and Wan’s doingThe Conjuring 2. (Not that Wan seems too conflicted — theFurious 7shoot was apparently so stressful it threatened his health.) We can also rule outJaume Collet-Serra(Non-Stop), asTHRmentioned last week that he’d already been approached but wasn’t available.
With that in mind, let’s run down the names that have been floating around recently.
Vin Diesel:THRheard from a source that Universal is worried he’ll want to direct, while another source said Diesel wouldn’t want to start with such a high-profile project. Well, Diesel’s momis in favor of it:
However, the studio disagrees. While Universal hasn’t officially commented,THRhas word that the studio is none too pleased about Diesel’s Facebook post and does not want him as the Furious 8 director. “It is never going to happen,” said an insider. For what it’s worth, Diesel has aFast & Furiousshort,Los Bandoleros. But his last time helming a feature was 1997’sStrays.
Rob Cohen:Despite (apparently) having the eye on the driver’s seat himself, Diesel has also floated Rob Cohen as a possibleFurious 8director. The pair also worked together on the extreme sports spy thrillerXXX. Earlier this year he released the delightfully trashyThe Boy Next Door.
Earlier this week Dieselposted a photoof the director with himself andPaul Walker, and today he explained why he wanted Cohen back:
There has always been the desire by Paul to have Rob direct one more, this is what fueled my campaign… 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.
Again, though, Diesel and the studio seem at odds here.THR’s sources say Cohen isn’t in the running for the job.Deadline’s sources concur that “it’s not gonna happen.”
Ericson Core:Now we’re getting into the likelier possibilities.Deadlinehas heard the studio is considering Ericson Core, who’s already part of theFuriousfamily – he served as director of photography on the originalThe Fast and the Furious. He’s since gone from shooting an unofficialPoint Breakremake to directing an actualPoint Breakremake. His other credits include the Mark Wahlberg football dramaInvincible.Louis Leterrier:Louis Leterrier is the other possibilityDeadlinenamed in their latest report, and probably the most experienced of the contenders we’ve heard about so far. He previously worked with Universal onThe Incredible Hulk, and his other credits includeNow You See Me,Clash of the Titans, and the twoTransportermovies. He is now finishing up the soccer hooligan comedyGrimsby, starring Sacha Baron Cohen.
These are likely not the only names in the mix. Universal is said to be looking at both experienced action directors and relative newcomers. It’s worth noting that Diesel doesn’t have veto power when it comes to choosing theFurious 8director. That said, he’s clearly an important part of the decision-making process, and the public face of the franchise, so his opinion probably counts for a lot.
For now, this is all speculation.Chris Morganis still working on the script, so an officialFurious 8director announcement is still a few weeks out. Should the filmmakers manage to get everything lined up in time,Furious 8should be zipping into theatersApril 14, 2017.
