10 Dream Directors For Hollywood's Biggest Franchises

Anyone who's had the pleasure of seeing The Raid and its sequel knows exactly why this makes so much sense.

By writing, directing, editing and acting as action choreographer on the two Raid movies, the Jakarta-based Welshman instantly established himself as one of action cinema's brightest talents. Furiously-paced, incredibly stylish and ultimately bone-crunching, the Indonesian hits feature some of the most jaw-dropping action in 21st Century cinema.

Meanwhile, the Fast and Furious franchise is veering dangerously close to self-parody after increasing the stakes to ridiculous levels over the last several movies. This year's eighth installment was the weakest since the series reinvented itself into a gravity-defying orgy of destruction, with F. Gary Gray's direction not particularly inspiring.

Some of this may have to do with Vin Diesel's apparent stranglehold over the franchise which allegedly saw him at odds with Dwayne Johnson during production, but at 6'7" Evans is a lot taller than either of them and could feasibly make it easier to command their respect in the alpha-male environment that is Hollywood.

To stop things from getting stale, a bona-fide action director needs to take charge of the ninth Fast and Furious to bring back the gonzo insanity that typified Justin Lin's time behind the camera, and Gareth Evans should be that man. The Raid and The Raid 2, two of the best and most inventive action movies of the decade, were made for less than $6m combined. Just imagine what he could come up with if he had $200m to play with...