Vin Diesel is directing a fifth Fast and the Furious film, even before the fourth film has even been released. This fifth film will be a prequel to the fourth film, Fast and Furious.

However there's something worth noting, this is only a twenty minute short film, and as yet we don't know how the film will be shown.

My guess is that this will be for a DVD extra, but the interesting thing to consider is that if Vin Diesel does well we may just see a full length film from him, after all he's already returned to the franchise, perhaps he could take a crack at directing one?

The news comes from Coming Soon and tells us that Vin Diesel is directing the fourth instalment in the Fast and the Furious franchise. This will be a prequel to Fast and Furious, the fourth film which is yet to be released, and the word is that this will bridge the gap for the characters between films bringing us up to the starting point of the fourth film, Fast and Furious.

Vin Diesel is no stranger to directing, or writing, or producing, he did all these things on a film called Strays (Filmstalker review). Now the rating may be low for the review there, but do bear in mind that it's a DVD review and the picture quality isn't great and the extras are very limited, however the film is a bit of a surprise.

What's most surprising is hearing about the work that Diesel put into it, particularly in last night rewrites before the last day of filming where they had to fit in a whole weeks worth of shooting due to running out of money on the production.

It's a surprisingly strong film, and the DVD reveals so much more about his talent than the gruff action star we so often see.

It's not his only directed feature, there was Multi-Facial which he also wrote, produced and starred in, and he has Hannibal the Conqueror coming up, so he does have the talent.

I'd actually be interested in seeing what he could do with this short, and if the third in the series does well and the fans go to see Fast and Furious, perhaps we'll see him get a stab at a proper fifth Fast and the Furious film? Is that something fans would want?