Filmmaker Justin Lin is set to make his directorial comeback for the next two installments of the “Fast & Furious” franchise.
Continuing his work on “Tokyo Drift” (2006), “Fast & Furious” (2009), “Fast Five” (2011) and “Fast & Furious 6” (2013), Lin is reportedly in “advanced talks” to helm the multi-billion-dollar franchise’ ninth and 10th films, according to Entertainment Weekly.
It is worth noting that Lin’s creative direction helped transform the street-racing action property into the massively over-the-top testosterone-fueled explosion extravaganza that it is today.
Subscribe to
NextShark's Newsletter
A daily dose of Asian America's essential stories, in under 5 minutes.
Get our collection of Asian America's most essential stories to your inbox daily for free.
Unsure? Check out our Newsletter Archive.
Fast & Furious star Vin Diesel announced on a Facebook Live on Wednesday that the filmmaker will be returning for what could be the final two films. In his broadcast, Diesel credited the 46-year-old Taiwanese American director as the series’ “forefather” and “architect”.
“‘The crowd goes wild,’” Diesel said as he revealed Lin. “It’s a three-point shot that made 9 and 10 incredible.’ You wanted 9 and 10 to be incredible. We’ve heard your concerns about the saga and where it needs to arrive in its final chapters.”
Lin noticeably began upping the ante on Fast Five, with the introduction of Dwayne Johnson’s character Special Agent Hobbs and the addition of multiple eye-popping action set pieces.
Even in Lin’s departure, his high-octane formula that turned the series into a ridiculously fun, physics-defying ride was still evident in the succeeding films “Furious 7” and “The Fate of the Furious”.
Fast 9’s release date was moved back a year later, to 2020, to reportedly accommodate the upcoming spinoff set for 2019 which focuses on Dwayne Johnson’s and Jason Statham’s characters.
Feature image via Wikimedia Commons/Joshua Henson (CC BY-SA 3.0)
