Lin was born on October 11, 1971, in Taipei, Taiwan.[4] He immigrated with his family to the United States at the age of eight and grew up in Buena Park, California. He graduated from nearby Cypress High School.[5] Lin earned the rank of Eagle Scout in March 1989 while a member of Boy Scout Troop 670.[6]
Lin's first feature film was Shopping for Fangs (1997), which he co-directed with fellow UCLA Film School alumnus Quentin Lee when they were still at UCLA. The film stars John Cho and is considered to be a "cult classic" among independent Asian American films.[10]
Lin wrote and directed a documentary, Crossover (2000), which focused on the 70-year-old phenomenon of the Japanese American Basketball Leagues, which were established in the 1930s.[11][12]
Lin's solo directorial debut was Better Luck Tomorrow (2002), a film focusing on a circle of high-school-age Asian-Americans who become caught up in a cascading series of petty and then serious crimes.[13] The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival of that year, and in a question and answer session following a festival screening, Roger Ebert stood up and angrily responded to an audience member asking Lin if he thought it irresponsible to portray Asian-Americans in a negative light, saying, "[N]obody would say to a bunch of white filmmakers, 'How could you do this to your people?' ... Asian-American characters have the right to be whoever the hell they want to be. They do not have to 'represent' their people."[14] Ebert's approval of the film drew the attention of major studios, eventually leading to MTV Films buying the film for distribution, MTV Films' first such acquisition.[15]Better Luck Tomorrow was also an official selection of the 2002 Toronto International Film Festival,[16] was nominated for a Grand Jury Prize at 2002 Sundance,[17] and was a nominee for the John Cassavetes Award at the 2004 Independent Spirit Awards.[18]Variety magazine named him one of the "Top 10 Directors to Watch" in 2002, citing the film.[19]
His third feature film, The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, was released in North American cinemas on June 16, 2006.[21] Despite mixed reviews, Tokyo Drift brought in over US$24 million on its opening weekend; the domestic box office would eventually total $62 million with a further $95 million accruing from the foreign box office, making total gross receipts $158 million.[22] With Tokyo Drift, Lin would begin his run as director of the next three Fast & Furious films, leading the franchise until Furious 7. Lin was initially approached to direct the film after the success of Better Luck Tomorrow at Sundance, and after wrapping his first studio film Annapolis, but wanted some "conditions" met, as the script presented him was about "cars drifting around Buddhist statues and geisha girls."[23][24] Instead, Lin wanted to make a film about Japan, which was "much more postmodern" as he mentioned, and intended to have a film on a more global scale that went against preconceived stereotypes.[24]
After Tokyo Drift, Lin 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.[25] He also went on to do an independent film, Finishing the Game (2007), a mockumentary on the events surrounding the production of Bruce Lee's final film, Game of Death.[26][27] It premiered at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival, and was also selected as the opening night film at a variety of North American film festivals,[28][29] for instance at the 25th San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival.[30]
Lin returned to direct Fast & Furious, the fourth in the film series, which opened on April 3, 2009.[31] On its first day of release the movie grossed US$30.6 million, and peaked at the top spot of the weekend box office with $71.0 million.[32] The film ultimately grossed $359 million worldwide.[32]
Lin directed the follow-up 2011 film Fast Five, which holds the titles for the highest-grossing opening weekend ever in April (US$84 million).[33]
Lin continued with its sixth installment, Fast & Furious 6. It became the largest Memorial Day Weekend gross for a Universal Pictures film, setting a record of US$120 million and a worldwide total of $317 million.[35][36][37] It also became the highest grossing Universal Pictures film in the UK, with an opening weekend UK gross larger than any other movie in the series.[38][39] Specifically, the film took more than US$4.4 million on its opening day, the biggest opening day for both the franchise and the studio in that market, the second-highest opening of 2013 (behind Iron Man 3 at $4.7 million), and the highest-grossing film of the day with 54% of the market.[40] In the UK, the film also finished as the number one film of the weekend, taking around $14 million, making it the biggest opening for the franchise and Universal, and for a Vin Diesel film, and the second-biggest opening weekend of 2013 (again behind Iron Man 3, at around $18 million).[40] The film performed relatively well critically. Metacritic describes it as having "generally favorable reviews",[41] and Rotten Tomatoes reports 75% approval from top critics, and 83% approval from viewers, as of March 2017.[42]
Lin directed Star Trek Beyond, released in July 2016. The film is the third in the series' feature film reboot.[44][45]
In October 2017, Lin was confirmed to be returning to the Fast & Furious franchise, directing F9. Originally set for an April 2020 release, the film was ultimately released in June 2021 after several delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Lin was then slated to return to direct Fast X and Fast & Furious 11 but dropped out of directing the two films about a week into production and Louis Leterrier was hired to replace him.[46]
Announced film projects
As of April 2012, Variety was reporting that Lin was in talks to direct a feature film adaptation of David Henry Hwang's, play Chinglish.[47]
In November 2012, The Hollywood Reporter announced that Lin planned to direct a sci-fi film entitled Hibernation.[49]
At the 2014 Sundance Film Festival, Lin acquired the narrative remake rights to the documentary, The Battered Bastards of Baseball, the adaptation of which he reportedly plans to self-finance and produce through his Perfect Storm banner.[50]
In March 2014, Deadline and others reported Lin as having been slated to direct Times Square, based on The Black List script by Taylor Materne and Jacob Rubin, a crime thriller about "set in the last days of the old Times Square, when it was transitioning from a seedy lawless Midtown Manhattan dump to a family-friendly corporate mecca; in that backdrop, when a secret from his past is unearthed, a young man's loyalties are divided between his neighborhood boss who raised him and the grizzled ex-cop who swore to protect him."[51][52]
In March 2015, Deadline reported Lin's plans to direct a 3D remake of Shaolin Temple under his banner Perfect Storm Entertainment, which focuses more on projects in China.[53]
In June 2016, Variety announced that producer Steven Paul's SP International Pictures had acquired the rights to produce a live-action English-language feature film remake of the "iconic" manga, Lone Wolf and Cub, in an article where Lin went unmentioned,[54] after a March 2012 announcement that Lin might direct such a film.[55] In July 2016, Lin mentioned that he was re-attached as the director for an adaptation of the manga, and that he plans to have a predominantly Asian cast, saying
five-to-ten years ago, they would have wanted Keanu Reeves to play the dad. I think the cool thing about it is that filmmaking has gone global. There's many ways to make a movie and I think Hollywood has to evolve.[56][57]
In September 2017, it was announced that Lin would be directing and developing a narrative version of the documentary Abacus: Small Enough to Jail by Steve James (Hoop Dreams), who serves as an executive producer on the narrative film, with award-winning playwright and House of Cards writer Kenneth Lin will be responsible for writing the screenplay.[58]
In June 2022, Lin was announced to be directing the live-action film adaptation of One-Punch Man for Sony Pictures.[59] In December 2023, Lin was announced to be directing the heist action thriller film Two for the Money for Apple Studios.[60]
In October 2013, Deadline announced that Lin would be directing the pilot of Scorpion, a CBS drama produced by Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman. The series is about an eccentric genius who leads an international team of super-intelligent experts tasked with guarding against complex threats of the modern age.[64] The pilot would be based on the real life of information technologistWalter O'Brien. In addition to directing the first episode, Lin serves as one of the series executive producers, along with Nick Santora.[65]
Lin directed the first two episodes in 2015 of the second season of True Detective, "The Western Book of the Dead" (S02E01) and "Night Finds You" (S02E02).[66]
In December 2018, Lin signed an overall TV deal with Apple, Inc., departing from his deal with Sony Pictures Television.[67] In the fall of 2020, Lin's Perfect Storm Entertainment signed an overall film and television first look deal with Universal Studios.[68]
Lin also serves as Executive Producer of the series Warrior based on the writings of Bruce Lee.
Other projects
In 2009, Lin started the Asian American blog YOMYOMF which stands for "You Offend Me You Offend My Family." It was adapted into a YouTube channel in 2011.[69]
In 2022, Lin set a joint venture with (art)ificial, the art & tech studio behind the NFT sci-fi collection Galaxy Eggs, with the intention to be the first company to build a Hollywood franchise from original NFT art.[70]
Personal life
Lin has a son, Okwe, who has made cameo appearances in several of his movies.[71][72]
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