It was revealed recently that Universal are hoping to bring Justin Lin back to the Fast and Furious franchise in order to bring the popular film series to a close (if you missed it, you can find more details on that here).
Fans were obviously concerned that the chequered flag might soon be waved on the franchise, but we may now have a better idea of how many movies the studio want Lin to return for thanks to a recent interview with Universal Pictures chairman Donna Langley. The Conjuring’s James Wan is helming Fast and Furious 7 which is set to be released next year after delays caused by the tragic death of Paul Walker.
In fact, it was that incident which led to Langley being quizzed on whether or not the franchise can still continue without him. “I believe it does,” she revealed. We think there’s at least three more.”
“Paul is, and always will be, an integral part of the story. But there are many other great characters, and it’s also an opportunity to introduce new characters. I think it’s still a growing franchise. We’ll see what happens with Furious 7, obviously, but our box office has grown over the past three or four films and internationally, in particular. So we think that there’s more to mine there. But we’re of course very mindful about fatigue.”
That’s a smart approach, but based on the box office performance of the last two movies, there’s every chance that Fast and Furious will continue to go from strength to strength over the coming years.
As a result, it’s hard to imagine Fast and Furious 10 being the last if it ends up being a hit!
