When 'Furious 6' became tremendously successful both in the local and international markets a few years ago, talks of the eighth, ninth and tenth 'Fast and Furious' movies became very prominent even before 'Furious 7' was officially announced. When Paul Walker tragically died in an accident in 2013, a lot of the movie franchise's fans speculated that 'Furious 7' was going to be the final film in the series, up until it was announced by Donna Langley last October that there would be a total of ten 'Fast and Furious' movies.
So where does the franchise currently stand, especially after 'Furious 7's highly successful box office results (which, according to Wikipedia, has earned more than 419 million dollars at the worldwide box office in its latest tally of the highest grossing films of 2015)?
It is hard to say for now. In a recent report released by Collider, It looks like the eighth installment of the 'Fast and Furious' franchise is currently on hold, in spite of actor Vin Diesel's statement that the next film will go to New York City, as well as rumors of having Eva Green star as one of the leads. There is no writer or director connected to the film currently, with James Wan (who directed 'Furious 7') focused on making 'The Conjuring 2' and Justin Lin working on the third 'Star Trek' film.
When producer Neal Moritz was interviewed by the Hollywood Reporter about Universal's plans for the next 'Fast and Furious' film, he stated: "Honestly, we're just bathing in the success of this. We'll probably get together in a week or so to talk."
Another issue that comes in mind is how the cast fits into the production schedule. According to Slash Film, the contracts for several of the actors of the film franchise have already expired, which means that Universal would have to negotiate new ones. Some actors, like Dwayne Johnson, have a film-by-film contract, and given how busy his schedule is, might pose an obstacle. To those whose contracts with Universal are still up, such as Luke Evans, options are still open but nevertheless still bleak.
Could this be a legitimate reason for fans to worry about the franchise's future? Looking back on the production of the previous films, this should not be that much of a concern. Universal has already set the beginning of production for 'Fast and Furious 8' to October, so there is still time to work many of the issues out.
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