It has been a struggle to find a director for the fast approaching Furious 8. You’d think directors would be chomping at the bit to get their name on one of the biggest franchises in film. Paramount cast a wide net and has decided to enter into talks with F. Gary Gray.
Gray isn’t exactly known for his action films — his last movie was Straight Outta Compton and he came on the scene with Friday — and when he has done them they haven’t been on the scale of a Fast & Furious movie. Usually he works smaller with things like A Man Apart. Probably his closest thing to something as crazy as a Furious movie is The Italian Job remake, which was competently done. Still, I like the choice. The director can bring something slightly more grounded to the franchise, and maybe we’ll get a new take from another fresh pair of eyes.