Fate of the Furious director defends film following Michelle Rodriguez attack

The director of Fate Of The Furious is defending the film after his leading lady Michelle Rodriguez threatened to exit the franchise over the way women are represented.

Rodriguez took to Instagram on Tuesday (27Jun17) to promote the home video release of the eighth installment, and revealed she's considering backing out of a planned ninth film if women don't have a bigger part to play in the story.

“F8 is out digitally today, I hope they decide to show some love to the women of the franchise on the next one,” Rodriguez posted. “Or I just might have to say goodbye to a loved franchise. It's been a good ride & Im (sic) grateful for the opportunity the fans & studio have provided over the years... One Love.”

The film's director F. Gary Gray has since sat down with Business Insider and admitted he's a little confused by the 38-year-old’s claims, because there are several strong women in his film.

"Here's the thing, I'm the new guy and I thought with The Fate of the Furious, as it relates to women, I thought there was a strong representation of women in the movie when you bring on what I thought was one of the strongest antagonists in Charlize Theron," he explained. "And then you have Helen Mirren, who has a cameo that's strong.”

But Gray made it clear he respects feminist Rodriguez’s point of view.

“I can't speak for Michelle, she has a very specific point of view and I can't take anything away from that, but I would like to think that with The Fate of the Furious specifically... I thought the combination of female characters was pretty strong."

Executives at Universal Pictures, the studio behind the film franchise, has yet to respond to Rodriguez’s comments.