Justin Lin
| Justin Lin | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1971 (age 40–41) Taipei, Taiwan |
| Occupation | Film director |
Justin Lin (traditional Chinese: 林詣彬; simplified Chinese: 林诣彬; pinyin: Lín Yìbīn) (born 1971) is a Taiwanese American film director, best known for his work on Better Luck Tomorrow, The Fast and the Furious franchise and the television show Community.
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[edit] Life and career
Lin was born in Taipei and grew up in Orange County, California.[1] He earned an MFA in film directing from the UCLA Film School. His solo directorial debut Better Luck Tomorrow (1997's Shopping for Fangs was co-directed by Quentin Lee) made a huge splash with critics and fans alike. However, his subsequent work, Annapolis, scored mixed reviews from critics but found an audience on DVD, selling more than 4 million copies and landing on top 10-rental lists around the country. His directorial outing, The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, was released in North American cinemas 16 June 2006. Universal credits the film (along with The Break-Up) for helping the studio stay in the black in 2006. It has grossed more than $158 million to date.[citation needed]
After Tokyo Drift, Lin went on to do an independent film Finishing the Game, which is a comedic interpretation of the events surrounding the production of Bruce Lee's final film, Game of Death.[2] It premiered at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival. He also directed a short film that also premiered at the Sundance Global Short Film Project, La Revolución de Iguodala! (2007), about one individual's message as that individual travels through time and becomes embodied in different races.
Lin returned to the franchise to direct the fourth in the Fast and Furious series, titled Fast & Furious which opened on April 3, 2009. On its first day of release the movie grossed $30.5 million, and peaked at the top spot of the weekend box office with $70,950,500. It held the title for the highest-grossing opening weekend ever in April (it was surpassed by Fast Five on the last weekend of April 2011 with an estimated $83.6 million, which he also directed) and of any car-oriented film. (The prior record was held by Cars, which grossed $60.1 million.) As of May 24, 2009 the film has grossed a total of US $345,755,411 worldwide.
Justin Lin has also directed several episodes of the NBC comedy series Community, most notably the critically acclaimed episode Modern Warfare, which aired on May 6, 2010.
In 2009, he founded the popular Asian American blog: www.YouOffendMeYouOffendMyFamily.com (YOMYOMF).
On the 27th of April, he was announced as being the director for the next installment of the Terminator series, with the CAA as being the new distributors and potentially Arnold Schwarzenegger back in the role as The Terminator.[3] Megan Ellison's Annapurna Films won the rights to this Terminator film and the next installment as well.[4]
[edit] Documentaries
Lin is among the actors, producers and directors interviewed in the documentary The Slanted Screen (2006), directed by Jeff Adachi, about the representation of Asian and Asian American men in Hollywood.
In 2000, Lin also wrote and directed a documentary, Crossover, which focused on the 70-year old phenomenon of the Japanese American Basketball Leagues, which were established in the 1930s.
[edit] Recurring collaborators
Sung Kang has appeared in most of Lin's films, including Better Luck Tomorrow, Finishing the Game, The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, Fast & Furious and Fast Five. Jordana Brewster has appeared in Annapolis, Fast & Furious, and Fast Five, and Tyrese Gibson has appeared in Annapolis, 2 Fast 2 Furious, and Fast Five. Roger Fan has also appeared in Better Luck Tomorrow, Finishing the Game, Annapolis and Fast & Furious. James Franco has appeared in Finishing the Game and Annapolis, and Vin Diesel has appeared in all of the Fast & Furious films that Lin has Directed.
[edit] Filmography
[edit] Filmography
- Shopping for Fangs (1997)
- Interactions (2000)
- Crossover (2000)
- Better Luck Tomorrow (2002)
- Spotlighting (2005)
- Annapolis (2006)
- The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006)
- Finishing the Game (2007)
- La Revolución de Iguodala! (2007)
- Fast & Furious (2009)
- Community (2010) (TV)
- Fast Five (2011)
- Untitled Fast Five Sequel (2013)[5]
[edit] As himself
- The Slanted Screen (documentary, 2006)
[edit] References
- ^ MTV Biography "Taiwanese writer/director raised in the O.C." (2006), retrieved September 2, 2006.
- ^ Robert Ito (5 August 2006). "50 Guys, All Trying to Look Like Bruce Lee". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/05/movies/05bruce.html?_r=1&oref=slogin.
- ^ Mike Fleming. "'Terminator' Back With Arnold To Star: Schwarzenegger In Package Shopping Now; 'Fast Five's Justin Lin To Direct". Deadline. http://www.deadline.com/2011/04/arnold-schwarzenegger-is-back-as-terminator-fast-fives-justin-lin-to-direct.
- ^ "Justin Lin's Terminator finds a financier". Asia Pacific Arts. 2011-05-13. http://asiapacificarts.usc.edu/article@apa?justin_lins_terminator_finds_a_financier_16730.aspx.
- ^ http://www.autoevolution.com/news/fast-and-furious-6-coming-in-2013-36730.html
[edit] External links
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