A few days ago, we learned that director Justin Lin was bowing out of the 'Fast and Furious' franchise after directing four films in the series. While fans of the amazingly ridiculous action series wiped away their tears, Universal has been hard at work tracking down a new director for 'Fast and Furious 7,' which needs to get shooting as soon as possible if it wants to meet its Summer 2014 release date. And now a shortlist of filmmakers has emerged!

The scoop comes from Latino Review's El Mayimbe, who reports that the studio has narrowed its search down to three people. None are big names, but they sound like the kind of people you go after when you want a director who won't fix something that isn't broken. And they are:

Jeff Wadlow, the director of the upcoming 'Kick-Ass 2.'

Brad Furman, who directed 'The Lincoln Lawyer' and the upcoming 'Runner, Runner.'

Harald Zwart, the director of the surprisingly solid 'Karate Kid' remake.

Of those three, Wadlow feels like the best match at first glance thanks to his experience with the action genre (and the fact that Universal is releasing 'Kick-Ass 2' and knows exactly what they're getting it they give him the reins). But don't count those other guys out -- who knows that they've said in those behind-closed-meetings.

'Fast and Furious 6' will arrive on May 24th and 'Fast and Furious 7' will follow about a year later in 2014. There will probably be a 'Fast and Furious 8' in 2015.

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