By It’s been quite a roller coaster for Fast and Furious 7 over these last two weeks. First Universal increased the rate of production, then Justin Lin (faithful director for four of the series’ films) backs out, and finally Universal scrambled around a rumored list of (terrible) director names for awhile. Thankfully, all of that is over. Deadline reports that Universal is in now in talks with James Wan (who’s been directing horror films until this point) with a deal closing sometime this week.
While I wasn’t a fan of his most recent effort, Insidious (and questioned the necessity of its sequel, Insidiou2), Wan has a great(ish) track record. He directed Saw (otherwise known as “the good one”), Dead Silence, and folks say The Conjuring might be good. Although I am a bit sad Universal just didn’t hand over the franchise to Vin Diesel, I want to see where Wan takes us (even if I am nervous about his taking on something other than horror). Heck, even Justin Lin supports the decision:
I’m extremely proud to be part of the Fast franchise, it is an experience I will always treasure…It’s time for me to move on to other things and I’m thrilled that Universal and Neal have selected James Wan to lead the franchise into its new chapter.
Ah, things are looking much better for Fast Se7en.
[via Deadline]