Earlier this week, it was reported that Justin Lin was being courted by Universal to return to the ‘Fast and Furious’ series after taking ‘Furious 7’ off and giving the director's seat to James Wan. It was also reported that his return would be be part of a two film “grand finale” that would send this beloved franchise driving off into the sunset. But that second part is just plain silly. Have you seen the box office receipts for these movies? So it should come as no surprise that the studio has “at least three” more Dominic Toretto and company adventures in the pipeline.

The news comes from the Hollywood Reporter, who recently held a roundtable interview with six studio heads, including Universal's Donna Langley. When asked about the future of the ‘Fast and Furious’ series in the wake of Paul Walker's tragic death, she was quick to point out that nothing (nothing!) is going to pump the breaks on the most lucrative and ludicrous series in modern Hollywood:

We think there's at least three more. Paul is, and always will be, an integral part of the story. But there are many other great characters, and it's also an opportunity to introduce new characters. I think it's still a growing franchise. We'll see what happens with ‘Furious 7,’ obviously, but our box office has grown over the past three or four films and internationally, in particular. So we think that there's more to mine there. But we're of course very mindful about fatigue.

In a cinematic landscape where every studio is trying to create a “connected universe” to appeal to audiences who have sold their souls to Marvel Studios, Universal has what everyone wants. The ‘Fast and Furious’ franchise may have begun as a series of simple action movies about tough guys and fast cars, but the mythology surrounding these characters has grown to comic book proportions. Vin Diesel, Dwayne Johnson and the rest of the crew don't play characters as much as they play superheroes ... and their powers keep on getting bigger and crazier with each passing movie. The series has only grown more complicated and bizarre, transforming a sequel into a prequel and resurrecting heroes and villains alike. These are the meathead versions of the Avengers and Universal is going to let its studio crumble into dust before it lets this series die.

And truthfully, we're all for it. ‘Furious 7’ looks like another insane blast of mayhem in a series that's practically perfected the modern blockbuster. As long as Vin Diesel can pilot cars off of airplanes and The Rock can punch Jason Statham in the face and Tyrese Gibson can just do whatever the heck he does in these movies, they need to keep making 'em. Besides, they're only a few movies away from being able to make a movie called ‘Fast and Furious X.’ Who are Universal to deny us ‘Fast and Furious X’?!

Anyway, ‘Furious 7’ is currently set for release on April 3, 2015. The final film is currently set for never because this series will outlive us all.

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