Fast & Furious 6 director Justin Lin has pulled out of directing Fast & Furious 7. The issue at hand, appropriately enough, was speed, since Universal Pictures put Fast & Furious 7 on an exceedingly quick schedule, in hopes of getting it in theaters by the summer of 2014.

Last weekend, franchise star Vin Diesel revealed that production on Fast & Furious 7 will begin this summer. If Justin Lin were to sign on under this accelerated schedule, he would have to start prepping Fast & Furious 7, while he is still in post-production on Fast & Furious 6. One insider claims that the filmmaker believed the rushed schedule would have resulted in a sub-par film.

Back in December 2011, we reported that both Fast & Furious 6 and Fast & Furious 7 were being written back-to-back by Chris Morgan. The initial plan was to shoot both movies back-to-back, but that was scrapped early on.

Universal Pictures is currently seeking a new director for Fast & Furious 7, with a decision expected to be made as early as next week. Justin Lin made four movies in the franchise (The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, Fast & Furious, Fast Five, and Fast & Furious 6), which rose to new heights under his direction.