GOT THE GREENLIGHT.  Hollywood sources are saying “Straight Outta Compton” director, F. Gary Gray, is a near lock-in to helm "Fast and Furious 8,” the latest installment in the bankable action thriller franchise.

Via social media, Vin Diesel, the star and producer of “Furious” posted a photo of himself with Gray hinting that the director was set to take the reins of Universal’s nearly unstoppable global motion-picture series.  If truly given greenlight, Gray, will take over from James Wan, who directed “Furious 7.” Other "F&F" franchise directors are Justin Lin, who helmed installments three through six.  The first film 2001’s “The Fast and the Furious,” was directed by Rob Cohen, while John Singleton directed its first sequel, “2 Fast, 2 Furious.”

The Hollywood rumor mill has also churned out, "FF8" will also feature Paul Walker's brother Cody as Jack O'Conner.  Production is set to begin in spring of 2016 with pre-production to start next in November.  The release date is set for April 2017.

Tell No One

Warner Bros and Universal Pictures have optioned rights to Harlan Coben’s thriller Tell No One. One of the biggest-selling mystery writers in America, Coben has yet to see one of his books given the Hollywoodteur treatment. That was until now, Ben Affleck is attached to direct the screenplay written by Chris Terrio. Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall are producing Harlan first Hollywood film. The studios will co-develop the picture, with Warner Bros releasing domestically and Universal Pictures International launching it overseas. The deal also involves Luc Besson’s EuropaCorp, as the project is a loose remake of the French film adaptation of Coben’s book, which was directed by Guillaume Canet with EuropaCorp ties.

Coben originally set up his book at Sony Pictures in 2002. The studio hired Star Trek scribes Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci, however, it never came together and Sony let it go. Meanwhile in France, Canet then got involved, figured out how to make the premise work, set it up at EuropaCorp and turned it into French film. The plot involves a pediatrician who is out one night with his wife when she suddenly vanishes and he is severely beaten. When she turns up murdered, he is prime suspect. Canet managed to make all of that work, while Hollywoodteurs spent years unable to come up with a script to greenlight.

Hoping for yet another franchise, other Coben's other books have been bought by stealthy Hollywoodteurs seeking a R.O.I.

Angelina Jolie Gets Salty

Angelina Jolie wants to do a Salt sequel and Sony Pictures is moving forward on the much speculated franchise.

Kurt Wimmer has begun writing it for Jolie to reprise her role as Evelyn Salt, the CIA agent who after being outed as a Russian spy, spent the first movie running for her life - very Bourne Identity-y. The original film smartly left open a window for a possible sequel at the climax, which was directed by Phillip Noyce.

No word on who will be the Salt II director. Universal Pictures tried to draft a sequel of Wanted for Jolie; however, things did not pan out.

This is Lovely & Wicked!

Looks like Melissa Marr's highly popular wicked teen faery novel series has been given the greenlight by Universal with Mary Harron set to direct Wicked Lovely with sporadic Hollywoodteur Vince Vaughn producing the big screen adaptation.

The plot revolves around a young teen named Aislinn, who has seen dangerous faeries her entire life but has managed to survive by adhering to a strict set of rules that have kept her safe. That was until now. At 17, Aislinn finds herself torn between a seductive faery king and the mortal she loves. She must go against everything she was taught in order to confront a world she was raised to fear.

Caroline Thompson (Edward Scissorhands) wrote the script. Vaughn, Victoria Vaughn and Peter Billingsley are producing for Wild West Picture Show Productions. Marr has written five books in the series, and the fifth and final title, Darkest Mercy, was published in February.

Harron, of American Pyscho fame, recently directed The Moth Diaries with Lily Cole, Sarah Bolger and Scott Speedman. Lovely reads like a gamine Harry Potter with potential for yet another Hollywoodteur movie franchise with crossed branding and marketing opportunities galore via exploits of a young adult literary series.

Oliver Stone's Savages

For the upcoming Savages, the drama based on Don Winslow’s bestselling novel, Oliver Stone has put together a brilliant cast arranging a Pulp Fiction reunion of John Travolta and Uma Thurman. Also casting in is Blake Lively, who beat out a bevy of young, single, white, blonde, females to play the integral role of O. Travolta will play Dennis, a burned out DEA agent while Thurman will play O’s mom, Paqu.

Savages is the druggy dilemma of best friends and Laguna pot growers Chon (Taylor Kitsch) and Ben (Aaron Johnson), who live a blazed-out lifestyle with their trippy galpal, O. Their Laguna pot is so good that the Mexican cartel wants in. When they refuse, the cartel kidnaps O and charges a heavy ransom to get her back. Chon, a Navy SEAL, and Ben pay the ransom by covertly ripping off the cartel’s own shipments setting the stage for a most dangerous international thief.

Also in the mix are Salma Hayek, who plays the role of Mexican cartel queen-pin Elena and Benicio Del Toro, as the vicious cartel enforcer Lado. The script is by Winslow and Shane Salerno. Production on Savages begins in July with Universal Pictures financing and distributing.