Possible Directing Duos of FAST & FURIOUS 8, Ranked
Over the weekend, Fast & Furious star Vin Diesel gave an update on the franchise, saying the next three movies in the saga would be the final trilogy and promising that he'd "announce the directors on [his] next post." Directors...plural? Is that merely a typo and he intends on announcing the director (singular) of Furious 8 soon? Or does that mean he's going to announce three different directors for Furious 8, 9, and 10 all at once? I have no idea. But there's another way you could read that statement, and for the purposes of this (admittedly ridiculous) article, it's the interpretation I choose: Diesel is going to announce a directing duo who will co-direct the next movie (or maybe the next three). So sit back, crack open a Corona (salud, mi familia), and join me as I rank some of the possible directing duos of the new Fast & Furious movie(s) in order from least to most probable.
The Quay Brothers
The subjects of Christopher Nolan's new documentary, the Brothers Quay work in stop-motion animation and "find their inspiration in Eastern European literature and classical music and art." While it would undoubtedly be entertaining to see a Fast movie created solely using stop-motion influenced by classical art, it seems, well, extraordinarily unlikely that Universal would choose to take the franchise in that direction.
Fictional chances of directing Furious 8: 0%
The Coen Brothers
Let's go ahead and get this one out of the way. Though Joel and Ethan Coen have been known to occasionally step into more traditionally mainstream moviemaking outside of their own projects (they co-wrote Unbroken and Spielberg's upcoming Bridge of Spies, for example), I can't quite see them suddenly deciding to take a hard turn into big budget action filmmaking.
Fictional chances of directing Furious 8: 5%
Jay & Mark Duplass
Here's another pairing that, if chosen, would probably completely change what this franchise is known for. They also like using loose outlines and improv on their sets, and no offense to the Fast actors, but I don't exactly see that working out very well in this case.
Fictional chances of directing Furious 8: 7%
Peter & Bobby Farrelly
The directors of There's Something About Mary are no stranger to mainstream popcorn fare, but they've never handled action on this scale before. Still, they might be looking for a hit after the disappointing reaction to Dumb & Dumber To.
Fictional chances of directing Furious 8: 12%
Phil Lord & Chris Miller
The guys behind the Jump Street franchise and The LEGO Movie would definitely be able to achieve the right sense of fun and spectacle, but since they're busy developing a Spider-Man spin-off and a Han Solo movie, scheduling would probably be too big of an obstacle to overcome.
Fictional chances of directing Furious 8: 16%
Anthony & Joe Russo
Another big-time duo who might be a fun fit, except for the fact that they're directing Captain America: Civil War and the back-to-back Avengers: Infinity War movies. Bummer.
Fictional chances of directing Furious 8: 16%
Jon Hurwitz & Hayden Schlossberg
Do I want the Furious franchise in the hands of the guys behind American Reunion and Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay? Not particularly, but they'd probably be pretty cheap for the studio to get. Diesel probably wouldn't have much of a problem rolling over them on any creative ideas since he's the face of the franchise and one of its producers, so if the studio's looking for a director-for-hire team, this might be an option.
Fictional chances of directing Furious 8: 31%
The Wachowskis
Now here's an interesting choice. The directors haven't had a hit in a long time, and I imagine WB is hesitant to give them any more money after the one-two punch of Cloud Atlas and Jupiter Ascending, but if Universal swooped in and gave them a $200 million budget to play with, I can see this easily turning into one of the most fascinating films in the Furious saga.
Fictional chances of directing Furious 8: 74%
The Hughes Brothers
Albert and Allen Hughes haven't directed a feature since 2010's The Book of Eli (though Albert came close with the still-in-development live-action Akira adaptation), but they're likely the kind of safe bet that Hollywood number crunchers love to use. They're not terrible filmmakers by any means, but I can't help but think there's a more inspiring choice out there.
Fictional chances of directing Furious 8: 87%
Neveldine/Taylor
I can see it now: the insane duo of Neveldine/Taylor on set in roller blades, whipping past cars with their tiny cameras going places we've never seen in a Fast movie. They'd absolutely bring the kind of insane energy this franchise needs, and after the ludicrous stunts of the last movie, Universal's going to need people who know how to kick it up a notch if they want to keep upping the ante. Bonus: they've already worked with Fast villain Jason Statham on the Crank films.
Fictional chances of directing Furious 8: 93%
Chad Stahelski & David Leitch
Did you see John Wick? These guys are already masters of action choreography, so the hand-to-hand fights would undoubtedly look amazing. Just throw in some cars, and you've got yourself a hit. If that means John Wick 2 is delayed a little, so be it.
Fictional chances of directing Furious 8: 97%
I know there are plenty of other directing duos out there, so who would you like to see get in the driver's seat of this franchise? Let us know in the comments.