Vin Diesel’s Mom Wants Him To Direct ‘Furious 8,’ But Vin Diesel Wants Rob Cohen

You would think that seven movies, and billions of dollars later, Universal might have a better grip on their "Fast & Furious" franchise, but as development on "Furious 8" continues, things are playing out rather publicly. First it was reported that the studio was having trouble landing a director, an issue that may or may not be exacerbated by Vin Diesel and his producer status on the movie. Then the actor himself hit social media to explain how much the series means to him and why a director has to be chosen carefully, all while promising a new trilogy of movies. And Diesel isn’t done yet.

Once again, Vin has hit Facebook and made some, uh, interesting, revelations. Foremost, addressing the rumors that he wants to direct "Furious 8," he doesn’t quite deny it, and actually says it’s his mom who put the idea in his brain. "I will share something crazy that my mother said six months ago after the studio had me announce the date for 8 to the world… ‘Either you direct 8 yourself… or don’t do it.’ …I wrote it off as just a mother’s love and belief in me, though she has seen first hand what I’ve done to make these movies defy expectations and become increasingly successful, even when the studio thought I was crazy… haha," he wrote.

READ MORE: Vin Diesel Talks Search For ‘Furious 8’ Director, Says Series Will Close With "One Last Trilogy"

But more realistically, Vin thinks Rob Cohen — who directed the first film in the series, and "xXx" — would be the right man for the job. "There has always been the desire by Paul [Walker] to have Rob direct one more, this is what fueled my campaign… I believe that he can and would reset the franchise nicely, returning to what was the core of the film in the beginning… racing. He would also handle the Brian O’Connor issue with integrity, given that he and David Ayer were the ones who initially created that beloved character in the first place," the actor stated.

Meanwhile, THR reports that Diesel directing is probably not gonna happen, that Cohen is not in the mix of directors, and that everyone is waiting for the script to come in before any more moves are made. But clearly there seems to be some jockeying for the power position of who gets to make the call on the "Furious 8" director. Either way, no one involved wants to hold things up too much, so expect this to be resolved smoothly so that set pieces involving cars jumping through big objects can start being planned.