The speculation is over: The newest member of the Fast & Furious family is F. Gary Gray. The Straight Outta Compton filmmaker announced via his Facebook page that he will direct Furious 8.
The news comes just days after star Vin Diesel shared a photo of himself and Gray together alongside pictures from the Fast & Furiousfranchise. On Monday, trade reports circulated that Gray was one of the favorites for the gig; EW pegged him as the most likely choice of all the rumored names.
Gray inherits a monstrous franchise and one of Universal’s key series.Furious 7 broke records after its release in April, making more money than even Frozen; overall, it sits as the fifth highest-grossing film of all time. Though Universal’s astounding 2015 box office success was spearheaded by Furious 7 and Jurassic World, Gray’s Straight Outta Compton was a sleeper hit that netted the studio an additional $196 million worldwide.
Gray replaces Furious 7 director James Wan, who has other projects in the works, like the recently announced MacGyver reboot at CBS.
Though a world in which Diesel directs the franchise himself is delayed, Furious 8 will pull up April 17, 2017.
This article originally appeared on EW.com
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