'Fast & Furious 7' Details: A New Director ... and a New Villain?

Even though "Fast & Furious 6" (or "Furious Six," as director Justin Lin calls it, a perfect companion to "Fast Five") is still tearing it up at the box office, there's already talk of the next film in the franchise, the as-yet-untitled (or unnumbered) seventh installment. Universal has already set a summer 2014 release date for the film, which should commence production before the end of the year, this time under the direction of "Saw" filmmaker James Wan.

While doing press for his new film "The Conjuring," a period ghost movie that looks super scary, Wan admitted to Entertainment Weekly that the high-octane project is still in the very early stages of development.


"I'm in the preproduction stage right now," he said. "I'm in the process of designing my action sequences, working on ideas, and fleshing out things that we want to do with the characters. That's been really fun."

He then unleashed an amazing metaphor for what it's been like to join this highly lucrative and beloved franchise: "Okay, this is how I've been describing it: It is like being invited to a Thanksgiving dinner and the whole family's at the dinner [table], already carving the turkey. And I walk in through the door and everyone stops and looks at me. And I'm standing there awkwardly going, 'Hi! I'm here! Oh, that's my seat? Okay, I'll come and join the table.'" Like we said: amazing.

Spoiler alert: If you haven't seen "Fast & Furious 6," be warned that this next bit gives away a juicy end-of-movie plot twist.

One character that Wan is planning on mapping out will be the new villain exposed in the final moments of "Furious Six," played by none other than perennial tough guy Jason Statham. Wan confirmed that we'll be seeing more of his mysterious character but refused to reveal any details.

In a separate interview with EW, Statham also remained tight-lipped -- though maybe what he isn't saying says more. "I'm sworn to secrecy. You know what they're like. Universal will kill me if I say anything. They really will," Statham said. "People think I'm gonna play the bad guy. People think I'm gonna be the villain. People don't really know what's comin', and I think there's something exciting about that. People are just dying to know what extent and what involvement I'm going to have in the movie. I think all good things come to those who wait."

Statham is a huge fan of the franchise and its trademark physics-defying action. "The execution of the action is just mind-blowing," Statham gushed.