Vin Diesel isn't content with the "Fast and Furious" franchise making a gazillion dollars. He wants gold, too — Oscars gold.

The star has always been outspoken about the movies deserving more awards attention, but he's really playing up "Fast 8" as an Academy Award contender. While promoting his recent movie "Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk," Diesel told Entertainment Tonight that director F. Gary Gray is taking the franchise to a new place — a place with Oscars.

"He is definitely going to get his comeuppance ... He should've really been acknowledged for 'Straight Outta Compton,'" Diesel said, referring to Gray's last film, which was critically acclaimed but only received one Oscar nomination for its screenplay.

"I think he went into making this movie with a little bit of a chip on his shoulder, going 'Oh, really? OK. Now I'm going to take the biggest saga in the world, and I'm about to throw Oscars at you.' Wait until you see what he does!"

Big action movies rarely make a splash at the Oscars ("Mad Max: Fury Road" being a notable exception), but maybe "Fast 8" will break that trend. Diesel believes it could, since the movie is "different" from its predecessors.

"It's very dark," he explained. "My character is conflicted in a way that is really going to shock you."

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