Is Vin Diesel the reason no one wants to direct Fast and Furious 8?

Despite the last film pulling up trees at the box office, Universal is apparently struggling to find a director for Furious 8. According to THR, the studio has struggled to fill the role ever since James Wan declined to return, with the report suggesting that Vin Diesel’s hands-on role in the franchise might be to blame.

Apparently, Wan was offered “life-changing money” to return to the project, but remained unmoved by the studio’s overtures. The report goes on to speculate that Diesel’s role as a particularly fussy producer may have influenced this decision, with the star apparently notorious for tinkering with action sequences and dialogue.

Needless to say, it’s a suggestion rejected by both Diesel and Wan’s representatives, while producer Neal Moritz also said, “obviously if there was any issue, we wouldn’t be making the eighth [film] with [Diesel] right now.” Nevertheless, filling that director’s chair remains tricky, with the film’s April 2017 release date creeping ever closer. With horror specialist Wan having represented something of a gamble at the time, Universal might have to take another plunge into the unknown sooner rather than later…