Justin Lin

Luke Evans Confirmed as Villain for FAST AND FURIOUS 6; Story Involves Dueling Heist Teams

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: May 9th, 2012 at 1:00 pm

Last week, we learned that Luke Evans (The Raven) had been offered the villain role in Fast and Furious 6.  Given that the actor has an increasingly busy schedule as of late (he’s currently filming The Hobbit), we weren’t sure at the time that he’d be able to take the role.  Well, now Variety has confirmed that Evans is currently in negotiations to play the baddie in the sixth installment of the Fast and Furious franchise, opposite returning members Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Michelle Rodriguez, Jordana Brewster, and Dwayne Johnson.  Moreover, the casting confirmation comes with some exciting plot details concerning Fast and Furious 6.  Hit the jump for more.

Luke Evans Offered Villain Role in FAST AND THE FURIOUS 6?

by Dave Trumbore    Posted: May 1st, 2012 at 6:52 pm

After Jason Statham turned down a role in The Fast and the Furious 6, could the opportunity have fallen to fellow Brit, Luke Evans?  Recent reports suggest that Evans, who is currently filming for Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit movies, has been tapped as the villain in the sixth installment of The Fast and the Furious franchise.  The role in Justin Lin’s follow up to the wildly successful Fast Five was previously turned down by Statham when he was surprisingly unable to reach a deal with Universal.  It’s also possible that Rihanna is still circling a villainous role in some capacity, though nothing has been clarified on that front.  It has been confirmed, however, that Michelle Rodriguez will be returning for the sixth run.  Hit the jump to sort out what else we know.

Michelle Rodriguez to Star in MACHETE KILLS and Return for FAST AND THE FURIOUS 6

by Dave Trumbore    Posted: May 1st, 2012 at 2:46 pm

Movies keep trying to kill Michelle Rodriguez, but luckily she keeps finding a way to come back.  Rodriguez is set to return in two sequels: one, a true sequel in Machete Kills and one, the sixth installment in the Fast and the Furious franchise.  As for director Robert Rodriguez’s sequel, Michelle Rodriguez will reprise her role as Luz, the leader of an illegal immigrant aid movement known as the Network.  She’ll be starring alongside Mel Gibson who recently joined the cast.

The Fast and the Furious 6, which will feature the directorial return of Justin Lin (Fast Five) and, perhaps more importantly, the return of Rodriguez’s character, Letty, something that was teased at the end of the previous film.  Shooting next month, The Fast and the Furious 6 also stars Dwayne Johnson, Gina Carano, Jordana Brewster and, of course, Vin Diesel. Hit the jump for more, including details on Gibson’s role in Machete Kills.

Has Rihanna Been Cast in FAST AND FURIOUS 6?

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: April 30th, 2012 at 11:55 am

Production is slated to begin on Fast and Furious 6 (that’s the working title for now) soon, and director Justin Lin looks to be adding a strong female presence for his Fast Five follow-up.  We learned last week that MMA fighter/Haywire star Gina Carano has entered talks to join the car-enthusiast ensemble, and now The Daily Mail claims that Rihanna is set to take on a villainous role in the pic.  It’s important to note that The Sun is a somewhat less-than-reputable source, so this casting news should be taken with a grain of salt for the time-being.

The artist stars in this summer’s Battleship, but we haven’t seen much of her acting ability in the trailers so it’s hard to judge this casting choice, should it turnout to be true.  Remember Samantha Mumba in The Time Machine?  Oh, you don’t?  Dwayne Johnson told Steve that they’ll be filming Fast and Furious 6 in London and Berlin, so we can look forward to an international vibe for the upcoming actioner.  The film is slated to open on May 24th, 2013.

Justin Lin to Direct Adaptation of CHINGLISH

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: April 24th, 2012 at 12:57 pm

Though Fast Five helmer Justin Lin is busy getting ready to shoot the sixth installment in the Fast & Furious franchise over in the UK next month, he’s already lining up potential post-Fast 6 projects.  Variety reports that Lin has acquired the film rights to David Henry Hwang’s play Chinglish, and plays to direct and produce the adaptation.  The romantic comedy centers on an American businessman who arrives in China desperate to launch a new enterprise.  The play examines the cultural divide between China and the U.S., as well as the human characteristics that connect us.

For those confused as to why the action-oriented director of three films in the Fast & Furious franchise is taking on such lighter fare, Lin first broke onto the Hollywood scene with his extremely well received 2002 drama Better Luck Tomorrow (he’s also done some swell work on NBC’s Community).  Hwang himself will pen the screenplay for the feature film adaptation of Chinglish and will also serve as co-producer.

Gina Carano in Talks to Join FAST 6

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: April 23rd, 2012 at 1:44 pm

How does a Gina Carano/Dwayne Johnson team-up sound? After kicking much ass earlier this year in Steven Soderbergh’s actioner Haywire, MMA athlete Gina Carano is now poised to join the next installment of the Fast and Furious franchise.  Though plot details are under wraps, Carano will apparently star in Fast 6 as a member of Johnson’s team.  As you’ll recall, “The Rock” played a toughened Diplomatic Security Service agent in director Justin Lin’s smash hit Fast Five.  Hit the jump for more.

Kamala Films Acquires LONE WOLF AND CUB with FAST FIVE Director Justin Lin Attached

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: March 27th, 2012 at 3:27 pm

Following the smashing commercial and critical success of Fast Five, director Justin Lin has been inundated with a number of potential future projects. He’s currently prepping the untitled sixth entry in the Fast & Furious franchise, but another one of his potential projects just moved a bit closer toward production. Deadline reports that Kamala Films has acquired the film rights to the Japanese manga Lone Wolf and Cub, which Lin has developing since last summer. The highly lauded manga, created by Kazuo Koike and artist Goseki Kojima, tells the story of a Shogun’s executioner who sets out to seek revenge with his three-year-old son in tow after he’s disgraced by false accusations from the Yagyu clan. Hit the jump for more.

Dwayne Johnson Says FAST SIX Shoots in May; SIX and SEVEN Will Be Shot Separately in the UK and Germany

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: February 15th, 2012 at 10:32 am

Dwayne Johnson is quickly becoming the go-to guy when you want to reinvigorate a franchise. He was brought in on G.I. Joe: Retaliation and Journey 2: The Mysterious Island, and recently Johnson’s charisma was on full-display in Justin Lin’s surprisingly fantastic Fast Five. Following the smashing success of the fifth entry in the Fast and Furious franchise, Universal quickly got to work plotting out a follow-up installment. Lin committed to coming back to the series, and we soon learned that the producers were mulling over the idea of shooting both Fast Six and Fast Seven back-to-back. It appears that’s not the case anymore, as Johnson recently spoke a bit about the upcoming sequels. Hit the jump to see what he had to say.

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).

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