James Wan Is Universal’s Choice To Helm ‘The Fast And The Furious 7′

Universal Pictures has begun negotiations with James Wan to direct the seventh installment of the studio’s mega-buck franchise The Fast And The Furious. I expect a deal to be made probably before the week is out.

Justin Lin made it clear back at the Sundance Film Festival in January that he wasn’t going to direct the next pic after revitalizing that franchise and helming its last four installments including the upcoming May 24 opener Fast & Furious 6. He wanted to take a break, and while he wasn’t going back to The Terminator, he still considered the reboot of Highlander a possibility at Summit. Universal Pictures has had plenty of time to consider who’ll take over the race car franchise, and recently they have been working from a very short list. Among the directors they’ve spoken to are Baltazar Kormakur, who helmed Contraband, The Deep and the upcoming 2 Guns with Denzel Washington and Mark Wahlberg (I don’t think Kormakur is available); Kick-Ass 2 helmer Jeff Wadlow; and The Karate Kid helmer Harold Zwart, whose next is The Mortal Instruments: City Of Bones. Wan, who helmed the first installment of Saw, more recently directed the horror smash hit Insidious, and has The Conjuring upcoming.

The next film brings back longtime producer Neal H. Moritz of Original Film, and Chris Morgan is returning to write his fifth script for the franchise. He will also be exec producer. Also back for sure is Vin Diesel, who’s starring and producing, and Paul Walker, who’s also starring. Not sure at this point about Dwayne Johnson or Tyrese, but those pieces will fall into place. The main task was to find a director, and they’ve gotten one.

Wan has gotten the endorsement of Lin. “I’m extremely proud to be part of the Fast franchise, it is an experience I will always treasure,” Lin said. “It’s time for me to move on to other things and I’m thrilled that Universal and Neal have selected James Wan to lead the franchise into its new chapter.”

Wan is repped by Paradigm, manager Stacy Testro and attorney David Fox.

I have seen none of these and will not see this one either.

I have seen none of these and will not see this one either.

Director James Wan Talks Joining the FAST & FURIOUS Franchise and FAST 7; Says He’s Currently Designing Action Sequences

While it wasn’t a surprise that this May’s Fast & Furious 6 opened to enormous box office and has had strong legs in the ensuing weeks given how well Fast Five did, it was surprising to learn that Justin Lin, who has helmed every FF entry since Tokyo Drift, opted not to return for Fast & Furious 7. With Furious 6 poised to bring in a hell of a lot of money, Universal put the franchise’s seventh entry on the fast track earlier this year with an eye towards rushing it out for release next summer. Exhausted from already helming Fast Five and Furious Six nearly back-to-back and worried about the fast-paced production schedule needed for 7, Lin decided to bow out of the franchise. The studio wasted no time finding a replacement, though, making an inspiring choice by tapping Saw, Insidious, and The Conjuring helmer James Wan to direct the seventh pic.

While Wan is understandably knee-deep in pre-production on Fast & Furious 7 at the moment in order to start filming later this year, the director recently provided a bit of an update on the film, confirming the actor that will be playing the pic’s villain.

Speaking with EW, Wan said that he is currently focused on creating his action sequences for Fast & Furious 7:


While the filmmaker was tight-lipped about specific plot details, he did confirm that Jason Statham—who was seen in the credits of Furious Six as the brother of Luke Evans’ character, seeking revenge—will indeed star in Fast & Furious 7. He went on to describe what it feels like to step into a firmly established franchise as the “new kid”:


We should start to hear more about Fast 7 soon as production gets underway in anticipation of the film’s July 11, 2014 release date.

UFC Star Ronda Rousey Gears Up for ‘Fast & Furious 7′

In the first major casting for the next installment of the “Fast & Furious” franchise, Ultimate Fighting Champion Ronda Rousey is ready to take her talents to the big screen landing a supporting role in “Fast & Furious 7.”

Rousey has just started negotiations to join the cast of “Fast & Furious 7″ but if it closes, it would be the first major role cast for the next installment in the franchise.

The film is gearing up with the plan to start shooting this fall, and Rousey would move training for her next fight to Atlanta where the film is set to shoot.

“Fast & Furious 7″ brings back most of its talent including Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, producer Neal H. Moritz and writer Chris Morgan with James Wan coming on as director.

Moritz and Diesel return as producers.

No plot details have been unveiled yet except that the film will return to Los Angeles after the previous five films were set in other locations. Co-President of Production Jeff Kirschenbaum and Creative Executive Jay Polidoro will oversee the project on behalf of Universal.

“Fast & Furious 6″ is the highest grossing film for Universal having made more than $740 million worldwide and the studio sees this as a major priority.

This marks her second role in as many weeks having also committed to a part in “The Expendables 3.” Given that both films are heavy on action, the films will work to Rousey’s advantage given her skill set as a fighter similar to how Gina Carano made her transition from mixed martial arts fighting to acting.

The idea is that Rousey would shoot both films back to back in order to finish in time to meet the time needed to focus on training for her next fight. She has a championship rematch on Dec. 28 with Mischa Tate and needs 45 days where she is only training for the fight.

If all goes according to plan she should finish shooting and have enough time to jump right into training. Sources say she will get some help as some of her team will meet her in Bulgaria during the “Expendables 3″ shoot so that she is able to stay in fighting shape as well as in Atlanta.

Rousey is repped by WME, Fight Tribe management and attorney Dave Feldman.

Kurt Russell Eyes Part in ‘Fast 7′

After bringing out a fresh face in UFC star Ronda Rousey to join the cast of “Fast & Furious 7,” Universal has moved onto veteran actor to join its acting ranks with Kurt Russell in negotiations to join the next installment.

No description on who Russell would be playing, but sources say it is the role that Uni originally offered to Denzel Washington — clearly showing its importance to the films story.

“Fast & Furious 7″ brings back most of its talent from the franchise, including Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, producer Neal H. Moritz and writer Chris Morgan with James Wan coming on as director.

Moritz and Diesel return as producers.

No plot details have been unveiled yet, except that the film will return to Los Angeles after the previous five films were set in other locations. Co-President of Production Jeff Kirschenbaum and Creative Executive Jay Polidoro will oversee the project on behalf of Universal.

This May’s “Fast & Furious 6″ is the highest grossing film for Universal, having made more than $750 million at the worldwide box office.

The CAA-repped Russell has taken it easy on how what roles he has taken in recent years with his last major film being Quentin Tarantino’s “Death Proof.”

I watched all six movies in six days last week; the first five on DVD and the latest one in the theater. I actually enjoyed each film more as the series progressed, especially 4-6.

Djimon Hounsou Gears Up for ‘Fast 7′

Djimon Hounsou is set to join the cast of Universal’s “Fast & Furious 7.”

The cast already includes Ronda Rousey, Kurt Russell and Jason Statham.

Most of the franchise’s top talent are returning for “Fast & Furious 7,″ including Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, producer Neal H. Moritz and writer Chris Morgan, with James Wan directing.

Moritz and Diesel return as producers.

No plot details have been unveiled yet, except that the film will return to Los Angeles after the previous six films were set in other locations. Co-president of production Jeff Kirschenbaum and creative executive Jay Polidoro will oversee the project.

This May’s “Fast & Furious 6″ was the highest-grossing pic in the series, with $788 million worldwide.

Hounsou can be seen next in Fox Searchlight’s “Baggage Claim” and follows that up with a busy 2014 that includes Legendary’s “Seventh Son,” Marvel’s “Guardians of the Galaxy” and “How to Train Your Dragon 2.”

He is repped by CAA, the Safran Group and Sloane, Offer, Weber and Dern.

I watched all six movies in six days last week; the first five on DVD and the latest one in the theater. I actually enjoyed each film more as the series progressed, especially 4-6.