Filmmaker F. Gary Gray has revealed he is still unsure if he is returning to direct the ninth installment in The Fast and the Furious franchise. Following his successful entry project into the automobile-centric saga in The Fate of the Furious, it's not a surprise that there is a clamor for the director to helm another outing from the series. But Gray isn't rushing things, saying that with the recent slew successful projects and a new business venture on the horizon, he could not commit to the project just yet.

Before The Fate of the Furious, the franchise had been in a limbo fueled by the untimely and tragic death Paul Walker, who played lead cast, Brian O'Connor. Furious 7 ended on such a satisfying note while also effectively dealing with the predicament, that some fans thought that it was probably high time to leave the series at that. But Universal Pictures moved forward with another installment (that would apparently kickstart a final trilogy) with Gray taking the responsibility of tying the whole thing together. The risk paid off as The Fate of the Furious raked over $1 billion at the box office worldwide.

Screen Rant recently talked with Gray about The Fate of the Furious and his future of the series, with the filmmaker keen to highlight how he's very busy with other things:

"Right now I'm starting a company, so that is my focus for the last couple of months. I had a chance to take a week off, a vacation, and then jump into some prior stuff that I had to take care of. And in the midst of starting a company, so that's what I've been dealing with."

F. Gary Gray Fast and Furious 8

After two successful films in Straight Outta Compton and The Fate of the Furious, everyone is already on the lookout what Gray's next project will be. In a separate conversation with EW, the director has admitted that right now, he is biding his time in terms of picking a new movie to work on. When asked specifically about Fast 9, he said "We’ll see. Who knows what the future holds? You never say never."

Should Gray eventually come back to direct the untitled The Fast and Furious 9, he'll join Justin Lin as the only other filmmaker to have helmed more than one film in the famed franchise. The Chinese filmmaker directed four out of the eight films in the series - Fast and Furious: Tokyo Drift, Fast & Furious, Fast Five, and Fast & Furious 6, before bowing out to James Wan who did Furious 7 in 2015.

The Fate of the Furious is now available on Digital HD and will be available in 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, DVD and On Demand July 11.

More: CGI Paul Walker Was Considered For Fate of the Furious