Justin Lin Returning To Direct ‘Fast 9’ And ‘Fast 10’; Franchise Is Heading To Africa
One of the most important members of theFast and Furious#family members is sliding back into the director’s chair. According to franchise starVin Diesel, bothFast 9andFast 10will be helmed by none other than directorJustin Lin, the man who previously directedThe Fast and The Furious: Tokyo Drift,Fast and Furious,Fast Five, andFast and Furious 6. Plus, Diesel teases a “long overdue” location that the team will be visiting in the sequel.
Diesel and a few otherFast and Furiouscast members were on hand in Orlando, Florida for thegrand opening of Universal Orlando’sFast & Furious – Superchargedride, and they sat down withToday(viaMoviefone) for a quick chat. During the conversation, Diesel revealed that not only is Justin Lin returning to direct the supposedly-final two sequels in this long-running franchise, but that they will be even “bigger” than the previous movies:
“It does get bigger,” Diesel said. “I just got off the phone with Justin Lin, who is directingFast 9andFast 10, and I can’t tell you how excited he is.”
When asked where in the world the team might go in the new sequel, Diesel teased a new location. “We haven’t been to Africa…and we are long overdue.”
A #Family Reunion
WhenThe Fate of The Furiouscame out, I wrotean articlespeculating about who might directFast 9, and Lin’s name was pretty close to the top of the pack. I even wrote that I hoped he’d come back for both9and10, and now that wish has come true. SinceFast 10istheoreticallygoing to mark the end of the road for this franchise (at least the main entries; the spin-offs will likely continue), there’s no one better than Lin to come back and take it across the finish line. After all, he’s the one who directed it back from the brink of extinction and completely reshaped theFastmovies into the totally over-the-top thrill rides they are now.
#JusticeForHan…Finally?
Here’s another positive about Lin coming back: we may finally see some#JusticeForHan.Sung Kang’s character was killed byJason Statham’s Deckard Shaw, but the former villain was allowed into the confines of the #family anyway because he did Diesel’s Dom Toretto a favor inThe Fate of The Furious. Last year, Justin Lin hadn’t seenFateyet, but when he was told about the ending,he was incredulous. “What? Statham’s character is now part of the family? Aw…” He was very clearly disappointed at the decision, so perhaps he can set things right inFast 9. After all, writerChris Morgantold me thatwe might see Han againin a future film.
