Justin Lin

Vin Diesel Talks Seventh FAST AND FURIOUS Installment; Explains How FAST FIVE Sequel Expanded Into Two Movies

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: December 20th, 2011 at 6:15 pm

After the smashing success of Justin Lin’s Fast Five, Universal got moving on not only a sixth film but also a seventh installment in the surprisingly long-legged franchise. While initially only one sequel was conceived, we learned in October that the studio was hoping to shoot a sixth and seventh film back-to-back. The two sequels would act as a “Part 1” and a “Part 2”, so presumably it’s one story split in half. Lin is back in the director’s chair for the films, and last we heard Chris Morgan was working on one giant script to link the two movies together. Star Vin Diesel recently opened up a bit about the projects, explaining how it became two sequels in the wake of Fast Five. Hit the jump to see what he had to say.

Justin Lin Expected to Shoot FAST AND FURIOUS 6 and 7 Back-to-Back

by Dave Trumbore    Posted: October 22nd, 2011 at 11:45 am

The runaway success of The Fast and the Furious franchise has prompted Universal Pictures to maximize profits and limit time between releases by shooting the next two installments back-to-back. It’s a sound tactic financially as it’s essentially forming two separate pictures into a single, massive production. This seems to be a new trend in big budget franchises with both Twilight and Harry Potter filming the last chapter back-to-back and releasing it in two parts. Recent reports also suggest that Paramount and Hasbro are considering the same strategy for Transformers 4 and 5. Hit the jump for more on the next installments in The Fast and the Furious franchise.

Director Justin Lin Comments on TERMINATOR, FAST AND THE FURIOUS Franchises

by Dave Trumbore    Posted: October 7th, 2011 at 3:49 pm

Two weeks ago we brought you the news that Justin Lin would not be helming a Terminator reboot in the immediate future due to a scheduling conflict with The Fast and the Furious 6 (Fast Six?). While that remains the case, Lin has certainly been vocal in his reverence for both franchises. After the runaway success of Fast Five (which has currently brought in over $616 million), Lin plans to finish up his involvement with that franchise in two more installments before moving on to the Terminator reboot:

“Creatively, I’ve had to put some stuff on hold and walk away from some projects that I’d really love to do, but this is an opportunity for me and for us to close out the franchise the right way. It comes with a price but it’s something that I look forward to.”

I’ll translate that into: I can make a boat-load of money on this sure thing first before taking chances with a problem-riddled franchise. Hit the jump for more quotes from Lin.

FAST FIVE Blu-ray Review

by Andre Dellamorte    Posted: October 6th, 2011 at 8:36 am

Justin Lin’s Fast Five is preposterously entertaining in all the right ways. Modern cinema likes to couch its action movies these days in special effects and the sci-fi and fantasy genres so much that a film about a heist and people driving cars really fast comes across as a breath of fresh air. Vin Diesel, Paul Walker and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson star in the fifth entry in the Fast and Furious franchise, this time taking place in Rio where Brian O’Connor (Walker) and Dominic Toretto (Diesel) go head to head with evil crime boss (Joaquim de Almeida) and have to assemble a team out of the actors who’ve previously appeared in the franchise. Our review of the Blu-ray of Fast Five follows after the jump.

FAST AND FURIOUS 6 Conflict Prompts Director Justin Lin to Leave TERMINATOR 5

by Dave Trumbore    Posted: September 20th, 2011 at 5:58 pm

Although Director Justin Lin (Fast Five) is still enthusiastic about the Terminator reboot, a scheduling conflict has arisen that may temporarily terminate his involvement. The Terminator franchise rights holder, Megan Ellison, is looking to start production on the first of two new installments by the last quarter of 2012. Since Lin’s The Fast and the Furious 6 has a release date of May 2013, his schedule doesn’t jive. However, if Ellison and Arnold Schwarzenegger can hold off on production until Lin is finished, there’s a chance he may still be involved.

The timeline doesn’t look all that rushed as reports indicate that Ellison has yet to acquire a script or, for that matter, a screenwriter. No studios have signed on though several have expressed interest. However, there is a minor cause for concern: due to a series of legal trickeries and copyright speak, James Cameron will actually regain the rights to the franchise in 2018. Hopefully Ellison and company can get a couple of installments churned out before then. Hit the jump for what you can expect from a Terminator reboot.

Justin Lin Signs First Look Development Deal with Sony Pictures Television

by Ethan Anderton    Posted: September 2nd, 2011 at 10:44 am

We just heard about a new two-year production deal at Universal Pictures for Fast Five director Justin Lin, and now the director seems to be on fire in Hollywood as Deadline reports the filmmaker has also just closed a first-look development deal for Sony Pictures Television. Under the new deal, Lin will develop new series projects for the studio and he’s also committed to direct an unknown pilot subject to his feature film schedule. This won’t be his first foray into TV as Lin has already been at the helm of three episodes of Community, certainly one of the best comedies currently on TV.  It’s not clear what kind of projects he’ll developing so it could range from the action-packed stuff we’re used to seeing in the Fast and the Furious franchise or maybe even some more comedy in the same vein as Community. Either way, there’s no doubt that Lin is one of the hottest commodities working in the industry right now, and we’ll be seeing a lot from him both on the big and small screen.

Justin Lin Sets up Two-Year Deal with Universal; Developing FAST AND FURIOUS 6, LEADING MAN, and More

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: August 23rd, 2011 at 7:11 am

Justin Lin has found tremendous success after this year’s Fast Five.  In addition to Fast and Furious 6 (which is May 24, 2013 unless Universal chickens out again and moves it to April), he’s signed to do the next Terminator film, the Western Brigands of Rattleborge, and the psychological drama We Disappear.  And now THR reports that Lin has set up a two-year development deal with Universal that will have him producing and possibly directing three more movies for the studio in addition to Fast 6.  Through his new production company Barnstorm Pictures, Lin will be developing the action-spy flick Leading Man, “an untitled project about a WWII Japanese American battalion that is the most decorated unit in American history”, and the sci-fi thriller we reported on back in June.  If that weren’t enough to keep him busy, he’s also developing an adaptation of Lone Wolf and Cub with Marissa McMahon and 1212 Entertainment.

Lin knows how to direct action although he’s not on my top-tier of action directors.  However, he does get a bit of a pass for directing the Community episode “Modern Warfare”, and since he’s clearly got a lot of films ahead of him, I’m hoping he makes some good ones (but I’m not holding out much hope for Fast & Furious 6).

Director Justin Lin Already Has 12-Minute Final Sequence from FAST SIX Pre-Vised

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: August 12th, 2011 at 12:15 pm

In case you haven’t had your fill of Justin Lin stories for the week, we’ve got one more for you. Yesterday we reported that Fast Six will be the director’s next film, and he’s no longer attached to direct the Highlander reboot. Today word comes that he’s already got the final scene from Fast Six done. Before he was even finished with Fast Five, the director storyboarded, pre-vised and cut the 12-minute final sequence for the next installment in the Fast and Furious franchise. Hit the jump to see what he had to say.

FAST FIVE’s Justin Lin No Longer Directing HIGHLANDER Reboot; Will Stay on As An Executive Producer

by Jason Barr    Posted: August 11th, 2011 at 6:46 pm

Amidst the explosion of recent success he has enjoyed, director Justin Lin (Fast Five) has stepped aside as the director of Summit Entertainment’s Highlander reboot. Lin had been attached to direct the film since Summit acquired the rights to the property back in May of 2008. However, his schedule is somewhat hectic of late what with plans to direct Fast and Furious 6 next and potentially the latest Terminator installment after that. All scheduling issues aside, though, Lin will remain on the project in an executive producer capacity.

Hit the jump for more on the future of the reboot.

Justin Lin Confirms FAST AND FURIOUS 6 As His Next Project, Has Met with Schwarzenegger and Cameron for TERMINATOR

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: August 11th, 2011 at 2:35 pm

Following the (surprising) critical and (not so surprising) commercial success of Fast Five, director Justin Lin has been mentioned among many director shortlists for some of Hollywood’s biggest projects, and recently found himself attached to the next film in the Terminator franchise. While one might surmise that Lin would strike while the iron’s hot and move on to another high profile franchise, looks as though the director’s follow-up to Fast Five will actually be the sixth installment in the Fast & Furious franchise (which just recently got a release date of May 2013).

Terminator fans need not fret though, as Lin is still working on Arnold Schwarzenegger-starred film. In fact, the director just recently met with  Schwarzenegger and James Cameron to talk a bit about the franchise. Hit the jump for more details, including why Lin turned down the directing job of Die Hard 5.

Shortlist for DIE HARD 5 Directors Includes Joe Cornish, Nicolas Winding Refn and Justin Lin

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: August 1st, 2011 at 12:21 pm

It appears that Fox is eager to get Die Hard 5 going as quickly as possible. Just the other day we reported that Noam Murro is no longer attached to the project (he’s busy with the 300 prequel 300: Battle of Artemisia), and Fox is on the lookout for a new director for the Russian-set sequel. Now a short list of directors Fox is interested in has appeared and it includes: Joe Cornish (Attack the Block), Nicolas Winding Refn (Drive), Justin Lin (Fast Five) and John Moore (Max Payne). Hit the jump for more details, as well as my personal preference.

FAST & FURIOUS 6 Release Date is May 24, 2013

by Steve 'Frosty' Weintraub    Posted: June 24th, 2011 at 4:31 pm

Universal has just announced the next Fast and the Furious movie will hit theaters May 24, 2013 (which is Memorial Day weekend). You might remember that Universal showed a Fast and Furious 6 promo poster at the Licensing Expo in Las Vegas last week, so the 2013 release date was already known.  What we didn’t know was the date.

According to the studio, Neal H. Moritz and Vin Diesel return to produce, and director Justin Lin is again helming the franchise.  According to Variety, Vin Diesel, Paul Walker and Dwayne Johnson will all be back and we already knew Fast Five screenwriter Chris Morgan was writing the 6th installment.  With Fast Five set to cross $600 million at the worldwide box office in the next few days, it’s no surprise Universal wants the next installment in less than two years.  Since Fast Five did a great job at reinventing the franchise, I’m ready for the next installment.  What about you?

TERMINATOR Reboot Rumors: STAR TREK-Style Alternate Timeline? Paul Walker as Kyle Reese?

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: June 6th, 2011 at 2:14 pm

Arnold Schwarzenegger put his acting career on hold when it was discovered he had a in-no-way-surprising secret love child with his housekeeper.  That threw a wrench into Justin Lin’s Terminator 5 but producer Megan Ellison, who now holds the rights to the franchise, isn’t going to sit around waiting until the public moves on to the next scandal and forgets that Schwarzenegger is no hero.  With that in mind, What’s Playing has some interesting rumors to report on the film.

First up, the new film may bring back original characters Kyle Reese and Sarah Connor but it may do so in a Star Trek-style alternate timeline fashion where new actors could play the roles and take them in a new direction.  Since the franchise has always included some element of time travel, a fractured timeline wouldn’t be a crazy idea (especially since they already used that premise to spin off the short-lived The Sarah Connor Chronicles).  That’s a solid way to reboot the franchise and it would be even better if they could just cut out Schwarzenegger entirely.  But I could live with his casting if it didn’t mean another disturbing rumor coming to fruition.  Hit the jump for more.

Universal Picks Up Justin Lin-Produced Sci-Fi Thriller

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: June 3rd, 2011 at 4:06 pm

Universal has picked up a sci-fi crime thriller pitch that Fast Five director Justin Lin will be producing. The pitch comes from Bobby Glickert, a P.A. on Transformers and Iron Man and Lin’s assistant on Fast and Furious. Glickert will write the project with an eye towards directing it himself. Speaking with Heat Vision, Lin commented, “the tone and the gritty approach to the sci-fi genre taken here is something that hasn’t been seen in a while.” So it’s something “unique,” just like every other pitch picked up in Hollywood. The thriller is said to be in the vain of Heat and the Bourne series. Glickert has another sci-fi project in development with Michael Bay’s Platinum Dunes partners at Paramount.

Shortlist of Directors for THE WOLVERINE Includes Doug Liman, Justin Lin, Mark Romanek, James Mangold and More

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: May 25th, 2011 at 3:28 pm

Well it looks like the list of contenders for the director of Fox’s The Wolverine has been narrowed down to eight. Following the sudden departure of Darren Aronofsky shortly before filming was to commence, Fox began searching for a replacement for the Hugh Jackman-starred follow-up to Gavin Hood’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Now, Showblitz reports that the shortlist of contenders for the job is as follows: Doug Liman (Mr. and Mrs. Smith) Jose Padilha (upcoming Robocop remake), Antoine Fuqua (Shooter), Mark Romanek (Never Let Me Go), Justin Lin (Fast Five), Gavin O’Connor (Warrior), James Mangold (3:10 to Yuma ) and commercials director Gary Shore.

With a script from Christopher McQuarrie, The Wolverine is largely set in Japan. Filming was poised to take place in that country, but it’s currently unknown if that’s still the plan given the natural disaster that recently ravaged the landmass. Hit the jump for more, including my thoughts on this list.

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