First Look at Charlize Theron in FAST 8, Vin Diesel Wants Justin Lin Back To Direct The Franchise's Last Movie
First things first: above, you'll see our first look at Charlize Theron's character in Fast 8, who's named Cipher, because of course she is. It's such a ridiculous name, and it fits perfectly in that world.
Next up, in a Wired Magazine profile on director Justin Lin (who's helming this summer's Star Trek Beyond), actor/producer Vin Diesel reveals that he's trying to convince Lin to return to the director's chair for the tenth Fast & Furious movie, which — aside from spinoffs and prequels — is supposedly going to be the final entry in the franchise.
“I’m going to bring him back,” Diesel says, when asked if Lin will direct the finale. “Whenever we had a day off—even on Thanksgiving, his favorite holiday—it was Justin and me working on how far we could take it. Success comes from 10 years of that mentality.”
Lin, who says he works Thanksgivings because he’s thankful that his father only ever took that one day off, laughs when I ask him if it’s true.
“Vin says you finish what you started,” he says, “and he’s very persuasive.”
Lin not only saved the franchise from the brink of oblivion by resurrecting it in The Fast and The Furious: Tokyo Drift, but he turned it into the monster success it is now, directing Fast & Furious, Fast Five, and Fast & Furious 6 before bowing out for the James Wan-directed Furious 7 because he didn't think he could complete the movie in the amount of time Universal allotted him. On the surface, it may not seem fair to say that Lin "started" this franchise since he didn't come in until the third movie, but for all intents and purposes, it's Lin, writer/producer Chris Morgan, and Diesel who are really the ones responsible for the Fast & Furious movies becoming the juggernauts they are. It'd be awesome to see Lin return for the series' last ride in 2021.