Page 30 - ARUBA TODAY

A30 PEOPLE & ARTS
Wednesday 12 april 2017
F. Gary Gray speeds outta ‘Compton’ and into ‘Fast 8’

LINDSEY BAHR in 2015 and then sped
AP Film Writer headfirst into perhaps the
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Life biggest challenge of his
hasn’t slowed down for career: The eighth install-
director F. Gary Gray in a ment of the “Fast and the
while. Furious” series, “The Fate of
After a few years away the Furious,” out Friday.
from the business, the 25- It made sense on the page.
year showbiz and music Gray had just come off of
video veteran burst back a very positive experience
into Hollywood’s good doing “Compton” with Uni-
graces with the critically versal Pictures, the studio
acclaimed and money- behind the nearly $3.9 bil-
making N.W.A biopic lion “Fast and the Furious”
“Straight Outta Compton” franchise, and he’d worked

In this March 31, 2017 photo, F. Gary Gray director of, “The Fate of the Furious”poses at a junket to
promote the film at Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif.
Associated Press

with most of the stars in the oiled franchise like “Furi- be seen in the theaters.
film before — Vin Diesel on ous” are predetermined, “Get Out” director Jor-
“A Man Apart,” Dwayne Gray was able to put his dan Peele even recently
Johnson on “Be Cool,” and ideas into the film. Cuba credited “Straight Outta
Jason Statham and Char- had been set as a location Compton” for changing
lize Theron on “The Ital- already, for instance, but the game in Hollywood in
ian Job.” Plus, Gray likes Gray used it to do some- demythologizing the insidi-
to experiment in different thing that he found fans ous but lingering idea that
genres. He lovingly calls his of the series desperately black stars who aren’t Will
own filmography “schizo- wanted: Take the charac- Smith or Denzel Washington
phrenic.” ters back to their roots with can’t open movies, or earn
But he wasn’t totally con- a good old street race. money overseas.
vinced. After all, “Furious” It was unlike anything he’d “That was a signal to Hol-
is a series that has already ever done before. And lywood that, ‘Look, it’s not
sent its LA street racers while “The Italian Job” was that people are unwilling to
around the globe and a car movie of sorts, Gray see movies with black stars,
featured cars skydiving calls that film’s Mini Coo- it’s that we’re not giving
out of planes and careen- pers a “cute and fun snack” black voices enough of a
ing through two adjacent compared to the “feast on platform to make the qual-
skyscrapers. And that was steroids” that is “The Fate ity material that will travel
just in the last movie. Grav- of the Furious,” with its self- overseas,’” Peele told The
ity is only a minor inconve- driving cars, vintage cars, Associated Press recently.
nience in this world after all. exotic cars, submarines, “An entertaining movie is
Then Gray heard the pitch: tanks, heat-seeking missiles an entertaining movie.”
Dom, Diesel’s character, and drowning Lamborghi- Gray was floored by Peele’s
who has gone to the ends nis. It’s not surprising that he claim.
of the earth to keep his describes it as a “tornado.” “Wow, that’s a compli-
makeshift family together, That tornado is why he’s ment,” Gray said.
goes rogue. barely had a moment Yet the biggest personal
“I thought, ‘Wow that’s a to relish in the success of change for the 47-year-old
brilliant idea. That’s genius. “Straight Outta Compton,” filmmaker is that he can’t
I’m listening,’” Gray said. the effects of which are still go to a gas station without
“We started to talk about being seen and realized getting recognized as the
where the story goes, you as the months and years “Compton” director. But
take the audience around go by. The $28 million film he does know that things
the world, to Cuba, to Ice- earned over $200 million are evolving in Hollywood,
land to New York and Ger- worldwide and became a albeit slowly, for directors
many and Russia and the cultural touchpoint as the and casts of color.
ideas of how we would cast #BlackLivesMatter moment “There’s a shift in the busi-
and populate this movie, I grew and #OscarsSoWhite ness that is happening and
thought, ‘OK this is going to persisted. I think that ‘Compton’ is
be great. I’m in.’” Not only that, now the af- a spoke in the wheel of
While many things in a well- termath of its success can progress.q