Happy Sad Confused - THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS: TOKYO DRIFT with Justin Lin I Watchalong

Episode Date: January 8, 2024

Start your engines, Happy Sad Confused is going drifting with THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS: TOKYO DRIFT director Justin Lin is this special Watchalong episode! Learn how this cult classic came together, how Channing Tatum nearly starred, and the stories behind infamous FAST scenes throughout the saga! SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS! BetterHelp -- Visit BetterHelp.com/HSC today to get 10% off your first month ZocDoc -- Go to ZocDoc.com/HappySad and download the ZocDoc app for free!  UPCOMING EVENTS January 10th -- Josh Hutcherson -- tickets here! January 11th -- Annette Bening -- tickets here! January 24th -- Masters of the Air (Austin Butler, Barry Keoghan) -- tickets here! February 6th -- Emily Blunt -- tickets here! Check out the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Happy Sad Confused patreon here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠! We've got discount codes to live events, merch, early access, exclusive episodes of, video versions of the podcast, and more! To watch episodes of Happy Sad Confused, subscribe to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Josh's youtube channel here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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What are we watching? It's the Fast and the Furious movie that, sure, it was about family, but it was also about cool cars, a great location, an amazing kick-ass direction. That's why we have our director, Justin Lynn in the House, to watch Fast and the Furious Tokyo Drift. Justin, welcome to the show. Good to see you, man. Thanks for having me.

How are you feeling? It's been a minute since you've seen this movie, as I understand it. I showed it to my son, who's 14 now, but I showed him when he was, I think he was seven or eight. That was the last time I saw it. All right, so the memories are hopefully going to flood back, all the good memories. It's a movie well worth checking out again.

I should also mention Christopher Nolan's very favorite Fast and the Furious. movie he's told me himself that justin wow we'll get into that and much much more uh before we get started a reminder to the audience out there um if you're listening or watching on youtube you're getting kind of the highlights of this conversation if you want the whole damn thing if you want to sit with justin and i for this whole shebang go to patreon dot com slash happy say i confused and sit alongside us watching tokyo drift all right here we go okay where were you at in your life and career when Tokyo drift entered your wife it was interesting because I had done you know my credit card movie uh bear like tomorrow I went to sundance changed my life and then it was about like almost

a year of just taking meetings and not understanding what hollywood's about until nina jason gave me my first shot at a studio movie and i wanted just to try everything and in the middle of that I got a call from Jeff Kirshenbaum when I was in London about Tokyo Drift. And were you, so you had done, yes, you had just done Annapolis, which was kind of your first studio fair. Yep. And what was your relationship to the fast films at that point? Two films into the franchise, were you familiar?

Were you into it or what? You know, it was undeniable, the chemistry between Vin, Paul, Cass, you know, and just also just the culture, the car culture. right you know and but it was interesting experience for me because I remember uh when I was talking to the students and they were saying you know this is import it's an Asian American thing and then when I saw the film it was I was a little bit like disappointed you know it's like oh so it was kind of very kind of tropey in that Asians have to hang out with you know Buddha statues and pagodas and it was you know and they were the bad guys uh so there was

an opportunity I felt like here where we can do something different, you know. Was the script, was the concept there from the start? Like, because this is, this was an unusual swerve for the franchise. It was kind of still figuring out what the franchise was at this point, obviously. The first film is what it is. The second film, you know, adds a lot of people to the mix, subtracts a lot of people to the mix. And then you have this one, which really still stands on its own, really ditching like everybody, essentially, except for the VIN cameo at the end, Is that in it from the start, were there any other permutations where other characters were from the previous films were in there?

It's interesting because when it, when, you know, Kirsch, who, you know, he's now producer on the fast movies, you know, he was an exec at the time and he tracked me down my hotel room in London. And I had read the script and I had passed. And he tracked me down. He said, just come in for a meeting, just coming for a meeting. And I said, no, no, no, I'm good. I don't want to do this.

want to do it. And I think part of it was that, you know, the concept of drifting was awesome, you know, and taking place in Japan was great. And, you know, also just as a young filmmaker, you know, I was ready. I was, I was prepping another movie at Focus at the time. And so when I read it, I was just like, no, it's not for me. And a lot of it was just the portrayals, you know, it was very kind of, just tropey again. Trophy. It was very, also not only with the cultural aspects of a lot of the Hollywood film that grew up in where, you know, you're going to, you know, exotic place and you're just exploiting all those exotic aspects. And what was really cool was that because I was saying no, when Kirsch asked why,

I was just being honest because I didn't want to do it. Right. And he finally said, hey, why don't you come to meet Cece Snyder ahead of the studio at the time? And I said, he said, you can't say no to that. You have to take that meeting. And so I went in and I was just super honest on why I, what I didn't like. And I think I was too young. I didn't, you know, I was just being very honest. And I remember she said, well, what if I let you do everything you're talking about? And I said, okay.

And she said, the only thing is you, I will double green light this movie and the other movie, but you have to do this first. And I think it would be meaning another fast movie or the other? No, I was prepping another movie. Focus, and that's part of Universal. Okay. And I think we were in the summer, and we had to start shooting in October. So it was kind of a page one rewrite on everything. But it was so cool to kit that kind of commitment.

Right. That I said, let's do it, you know. What was the learning curve on directing car chases, giant scale action scenes like this, which this film is filled with? Now you have like dozens of these under your belt. But here you're learning as you go, I would imagine. Yep. Yep. And it was the first time I, you know, worked with the second unit director.

You know, obviously a lot of stunt and fight coordinators. You know, it was, it was, I was just trying to keep it simple. Because when I did Bar-Lare-like tomorrow, I had, it was $250,000 for the whole movie. And on this movie, you're spending $250,000 before lunch. you know um so but luckily i think the way i started um because i didn't there was no budget i had to you know basically story bore everything for better like tomorrow i kind of kept that approach here because i i love i do love kind of committing to lenses the visual language and so that made the process of working with terry leonard um pretty smooth because i was able to articulate right

everything and it was first time using previs and Alex Vey who I I work with today still that's how we met and we were able to kind of sit there and really kind of design the whole sequence and Terry was great and they went and got it and we were able to kind of seamlessly put everything together I've taken this amazing class at UCLA with Joe Russo was actually in my class this Polish director Yerzi Ancheck and it was it was called a fluid master class and And basically you're trying to do dramaturgy, you're trying to break down the scene, and using a camera without cuts, you've got to pick the lens and create the camera moves to kind of help motivate.

And that was the best class I've ever taken. So I think I applied a lot. That has served you quite well in your career, I would say. No, and it really helps with the big action sequences because, you know, those are opportunities for the audience to really kind of connect with the characters and the state of characters. Do you remember much about the casting process? Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. The, you know, movies of the size, usually the studios, they will have a list of, you know, stars. Right. You know, I wanted to go further. So I said, hey, can we have colorblind casting? And I remember

they're like, why would you do that? Like, you're never going to. And I said, well, I think part of it, it's like, it's for me. I just need to try it. But I remember meeting Lucas and thinking, You know, because he's from the south. He has the accent. Right. And I love that quality. And he's kind of anti, like, not anti. He's just not the Hollywood actor, you know.

And I love that quality. And that's a, I mean, that's who he is. Yeah. I love that. And it's, it really kind of senses sense of an outsider, even in, you know, in his home, hometown. Right. In his, in his homeschool. And so it was, it was interesting.

because when we started, they sent him a dialect coach, which was confusing to me. And he came and he was kind of frazzled. And I sent the dialect coach away. And I said, look, I will be the arbiter and don't lose your accent. Yeah, this is why I hired you. Channing Tatum has gone on record saying the worst audition he ever gave was for Tokyo Drift. Do you remember his audition? I remember his audition.

and he was awesome. He's being very, I think he's just joking around, but I remember he came in and he was amazing because I like to kind of play around and get adjustments, and he had a great audition. So, you know, everything about my feelings and that audition was proven in the last 20 years, obviously. Now, was he one of your top three, though?

Yes. Oh, he was. Yes. So, okay, we've hit it. We're in Tokyo, which really, that's shabuya um it's interesting because you know it's just a very different way of shooting you know they they they don't really give out permits and people can actually like during the middle of shot people can just walk right in it's very much about respecting uh the citizens of the community you know

and so like i remember shooting this and people just like walk in front of the cam amazing yeah and um the big shibuya shots were interesting too because like they you know they they have you'll see the police officers and you kind of sit there and it's you just wait and they're like you get 20 minutes and i'm just trying to shoot everything and at 20 minutes they come up and they're like who's the director and then someone steps in front of me and they said i'm the director and then they get arrested and they go to jail for me so i've heard that is that real yeah yeah i'll tell you it was on uh uh did he's actually i put him in the movie because he went to jail for me so he's in the bathhouse he's the attended spent a night in jail because you overstayed your welcome basically in shibuya is that the

idea i don't really even understand it i just know that like somebody had to go to jail and he did it for me wow you know we had we ran into our big roadblock because when we first got to to tokyo um it was interesting because i think some of the studio execs were kind of they're like we're americans we have money and the japanese are like doesn't matter it doesn't Yeah, it's not the way it works. Yeah. And then they looked at me and they're like, wait, you look Japanese. I'm like, I'm not Japanese.

And they're like, you don't look like a director. And so I had to deal with that. But then what was awesome was that then I just decided, hey, we just got to take the time to get to know each other. Right. And I was just in Japan like a few months ago and some of the crew are still like family. Like I still see them and they're great. But I think you have to take the time. And I've learned this in the last 20 years.

because I've shot all over the world is that you can't, as an American, go in there and just because you have money, you think you can just go in and start shooting. I think you have to take the time to try to really kind of respect and get to know and build the community. It's a weird distinction because, look,

the reason why we're sitting here today is there is a legacy to this film that, if anything, has grown over the years. But it is, you know, for good or for bad, it's actually, I mean, look, it's all the fast films have succeeded, but box office wise it's the least of them but in approximation from the fans it's become like one of the top two or three i would say along with probably your fast five is i think up there um have

you used have you noticed that like did you notice like a reappraisal or yeah no i was shooting something and um the i had an actor he was in junior high and he said that that night he was missing the dance and it was a Tokyo drift theme and i you know this is why it's so great to be sitting here with you because you know you're always in the moment as a filmmaker and you're trying to do your best but you just never know how the world's going to receive it yeah and there's certain films um you know like a lot of times i i am airport and i'll be i get stopped by fans and yeah fast five comes up but the ones that are like really proud are Tokyo drift the real ones yeah there's there's the the really um there's community ones and there's uh and recently

I think Star Trek Beyond's the other group. I could do a watch along with that. I love Star Trek Beyond. Thank you. I don't know if you're aware of this, but I had Christopher Nolan on my podcast a few years ago. And I was just curious because he has interesting taste that some might not expect.

And I was like, what do you think of the Fast films? And he cited specifically, Justin, Tokyo Drift, as his favorite. Had you heard that before? I didn't, I'd heard Fast franchise. I hadn't heard about Tokyo Drift. That means that that's, unbelievable. That's unbelievable.

It says a lot. What's your own analysis of why this one stands apart? You know, it's interesting because I feel like a lot of times people can relate with these characters, you know, and I wanted to have an approach where we just create like a free for all. Yeah. And then we would find the best match, you know, I think at one point, you know, Twinkie was. supposed to be like Jason Tobin, you know, and, you know, when I was working on the script, I had just met with Farrell on something else. And the mentor character I wanted in my head was actually, I was thinking maybe Farrell can do it, you know, but it was actually part of, part of the kind

of open casting process. I had some come in to read the lead just to, I think part of it was just kind of expose him to the studio execs and everything. And I just kept, sitting there and he was reading the genre and i just kept thinking he should be the men and so that's how han came about um and i was like i know how to write the character now it's han so that's how we all came together it's funny i was thinking that i was like if this were made today i bet the studio would be a lot more open whether it's the right idea or not of having sung as the lead of this film yeah we should mention here a much more frivolous note but it's important i love the Hulk car which obviously is um oh it's my it's my favorite i remember going to

to Tokyo and you go to the the the the import car scenes and it's it was just so random you know and so when we were looking at it it was you know the studios always have these like promotional deals and they had one with Volkswagen and i'm like what am i going to do with the van for so i i saw the vans and uh and that's toshi he's actually our tech advisor um But I remember, I was like, oh, man, I'm going to do it. And I loved The Incredible Hulk as a kid, the TV show. And there was an episode where they captured him. And he was trying to punch his way out.

And I thought that the fist would be awesome coming out of the car. So I had this whole thing built. We had to get Marvel to give us the rights. And this is 2005. And the Volkswagen guys, they showed up on set. And their faces was just priceless. I'm like, what are you doing to our bands? But I loved it.

You probably have destroyed more cars than any other filmmaker in the history of cinema. You'd realize that. Oh, man, it hurts especially with the classics. I got to tell you the story. I was walking to set because a lot of times when you have the hero car and then, you know, we would buy eight of them.

Right. And there'll be ones where they're not in good shape and that was one of the ones you cut up. and so you can use it as bucks for all the green screen stuff and I was walking to set and I saw I saw this guy cutting the car

and I'm like whoa God that's tough and I'm like wait that looks like the hero car and he cut the wrong car I was like there's one less Mustang and the war on it

it does it does hurt me oh my God I think your leads I'm not going to name name so yes I will I'm sure Vin I'm sure Tyrese I'm sure The guys, they've commandeered some cars over the years.

Yes. Yes. Yes. We just saw for a second there, Sung, obviously, you're leading man through a number of your projects. It must, did it surprise you that, obviously, we're going to get to it later? You kill him off in this one. And then that set off this amazing Justice for Han campaign.

You brought him back. I assume that that was never part of the plan. He killed him at this point. He was going to be killed. It was just the one and done. Yeah. Yeah. It's like I always say that every film we go Gattaca on it.

Like we just do whatever we can swim to that buoy and to figure out how to come back later. I love that it's a Gattica. And I love that reference. That's amazing. But that must, again, a thing over the years that must have tickled you to see the love for that character that folks wanted. Yeah, it was amazing. Again, I was struggling a little bit in the character. And I don't, I think if I didn't have sung come in to read for the lead, I don't think I would have, I don't know if I would have came to conclusion that he would be Han, you know?

And it was also kind of, it was interesting because when we went through all the film festivals, we'd better like tomorrow. During the Volvo Fall Experience event, discover exceptional offers and thoughtful design that leaves plenty of room for autumn adventures. And see for yourself how Volvo's legendary safety brings peace of mind to every crisp morning commute. This September, lease a 2026 XC90 plug-in hybrid from $599 biweekly at 3.99% during the Volvo Fall Experience event. Condition supply, visit your local Volvo retailer or go to explorevolvo.com. Td Bank knows that running a small business is a journey, from startup to growing and managing your business. That's why they have a dedicated small business advice hub on their website

to provide tips and insights on business banking to entrepreneurs. No matter the stage of business you're in, visit td.com slash small business advice to find out more or to match with a TD small business banking account manager. Han, everybody just because the way that, that movie ended, it was very open, right, you know, it was very open ended and, uh, and everyone would ask like, what happened to these characters? And so part of the kind of inside joke is that, well, Han went to Tokyo. Right. And now is there any way to kind of like

firmly like entrench that in actual war? Can we like make that official here today? I think, I think, I think it's official, but it has a little scale, you know? Like I like to, I like to think that, you know, it started spiritual, but, but it's becoming almost literal now, nowadays. Yeah. So obviously you went right into, your next film was Fast and Furious, the fourth in the franchise. Again, was that just because the experience was so great here. Obviously, Universal was happy with you.

But again, a much different movie, kind of bringing the band together and kind of like that core group that starts to kind of really swell as the franchise goes. Yeah, yeah. It's interesting. I did a little indie movie in between the two, and I thought I was done.

And I was actually, like, I was invited to do this, like, parade in San Francisco for the indie movie. And Song happens to be in the car with me, and we stopped to eat at Arby's. And this is Central California. And I remember I'm ordering, and I see him, and all these kids saw him and they just it just it ended up being like a hundred kids just and I that moment seeing that I thought oh man and we got back in the car we're driving back

on the freeway and I said oh it's too bad that Han is dead that's a bad call with his gene he looked at me and goes does he have to be though and that was the first time I was like oh you know what it doesn't have to be chronological this is postmodern and I I remember I had my flip phone and I called Kersh and because at that point I had decided I didn't I wasn't going to do another fast unless I could find a way and somehow that moment just like it all came to me and I thought you know let's let's do it let's the connection between all these characters and so four that was the start of four and and also messing with the timeline because when this was made was that was it understood that this one didn't necessarily

really follow the first two or was that retcons a little bit it's it i remember i i had i got a call from the studio they're like this that everyone's going to be confused um we can't have haun in it and i thought you know up to that point um you know this is a really interesting franchise because there's no ip there's no comic books or anything like that so it was always a clean canvas you know and i love that that it can be anything it wants to be um and i thought you know it actually would be cool just to do it with confidence and you don't have to explain it and they're going to figure it out. Right. And that was my argument. But believe me, the first test screening we have for Fast Forum just sitting there going, oh boy. And nobody had an issue. And it was such a great, it was such a great

confirmation. I was like, you know, sometimes I think, you know, people get too nervous when there's too much money with the budgets and stuff. And they, they almost like are taking the viewers for granted a little bit. Right. Just tell a good story. entertaining for two hours and they'll catch on and it was awesome that they it was not even a problem and they all figured it out and fast five was was great in that um again we were sitting after the i think it was after the premiere and we started talking about fast five and i wanted to kind of go into more of a heist genre and um and i i don't know what i was talking to kersh and it was um it was the golden girls i where's this going well because

Tokyo drift when we were shooting this i would always say part of the joke i would say to the crew is like what's dom doing right now in the universe where's brian what do you think brian's doing right now and that's that that was like that led to the end of the movie right and so we did fast four you know han was introduced that he had a relationship with dom right um and so when we did fast five remember as a kid I was I didn't do a lot I just play basketball and stay home and watch I was a lachie kid and so golden girls on Saturday night it was the thing but they had empty nest sure and then uh they're that art the the actor play Archie Bunker was into the night

I think it was a Carol Connor yeah and um one night it was called Hurricane Saturday night and it blew through all through my mind that like they all live they all live in Florida and it's in the same universe and so when we were talking i said golden girls and kersh like what the what the hell you're talking about and i said this is the way to get all the characters back like and i know that there was like there was a lot of kind of um you know i think certain characters technically replace other characters but they all exist in the universe and there was some hurt feelings and things like that so i i felt like it was my job and to to talk to Vint, talk to everybody to make sure that, you know, we're a family. Let's own this.

Instead of like, well, this person took over, you know, let's bring everybody back together. And in doing that, like, you know, I start thinking, God, what would be the end, you know, we need a really strong antagonist, someone that's big enough to be able to kind of like go against the whole family. And that's how, you know, the whole the dwayne of it all surfaced. And I remember sitting down with him and, you know, talking about Hobbs. And when he came on,

I just, I couldn't believe it, you know. It was just, it was too good to be true. It was good for everybody. It changed the course of his career, too. Arguably, it was kind of like really injected life into what since has been this amazing run for him. Yeah. And it was great. I think, you know, I feel like, you know, you have, have to earn every you want to be in a situation sometimes i think with big budget movies you don't

want money to be the reason right you want to get in there and when someone's saying no you can organically and hopefully through passion convincing to yes right and that was the case with vin doing the tag on this and that led to fast four you know and it it i think that was the spirit of of this franchise, you know, is to say, hey, you know, let's, let's sit down and talk. And usually, you know, I'm being told by their reps, no way, you know. And so you're like, can we just get in the room? Can we sit down and let's talk? And that's how we kind of built everything. Well, yeah. And to look at where the franchise has gone and like this, like arguably the best cast on the planet is now in this franchise. And it's grown and grown and grown. And you have to set aside ego at a certain

point because every one of these people can lead and has led their own film. And like, you know, we all know we've heard the stories. We see that we've read the things. There's, there's been drama on and offset for these things. And I would imagine it's kind of like part of your job that isn't necessarily always part of a director's job, which is like you kind of alluded to this. You kind of have to keep the family together and be the peacemaker because these are big personalities. And that's okay. Yeah, it really, I mean, you know, I'll go back to the, uh, the, the, the fluid master class I took grad school. It was the craziest thing, you know, the Polish director, Ergy, I'm sorry, the professor,

he would make us like do everything. You have to shoot it. And the one thing that I would never want to do is be in front of the camera. He made us, like, have to act. And that little experience, like, made me empathize with everything that the cast has to go through. So, yeah, a lot of times it gets heated. it gets passionate but you kind of don't want it any other way like you want you want the actors to really be you know invested in care you know and to really have they have a point of view that like

sometimes as writers as directors like they're on the ground they're actually walking and living and breathing it and so um yeah it's it's kind of again it's part of the fun bass and purist six which has a lot to talk about we need to talk about the the runway chase look we did map it out it's actually 26 miles 26 miles

okay yeah BBC calculated it is 18 miles you're copying to it it's 26 miles I think we're going I'm thinking of it going faster so yeah 13 minute sequence 26 miles again it's a movie it's okay right

like I think of Altman movies when I think of fast six So, like, in that case, because I want to really kind of respect the ensemble, I like to think that I can have temporal control. No, I don't want to bring up a sore point, but there is a scene in Fast 6 that has become like an internet thing in the last couple of years. It's the scene between Dwayne and Vin, where they don't seem to be in the same physical universe, Justin. Do you know what I'm talking about, where they clearly, their eyelines are not matching up in reference. retrospect. Oh, at the garage. Yeah, yeah. Oh, my God. No, no, they were there.

Wait, they were? I'm telling you, it was the craziest thing because that house is actually sub, it's divided into four properties. So when they did the first Fast and Furious, they had to get, they had to get all four properties to give them permission. Then they built the barn. The barn's actually not real. Okay. And so I remember we had to rebuild that for six. And I got there, and there was four different properties and nothing was even and I'm sitting there going, wait a minute,

like it was playing with my head and so when VIN was standing there, it was like this kind of forced perspective that was happening. But it was actually because if you look at the ground, there were like, it was four different properties intersecting.

My mind is blown. Yeah. This is our headline. I was, I remember I was going into the, I was going into the, I'm like, wait, why is Vinhead looks so much smaller than, because at that lens,

everything kind of was distorting but I never had to happen and I remember going I thought I was going crazy then I realized oh it's the ground it was and I I investigated further and it was because that was the intersection of the four properties so that was not part of the beef it was just happened to be there was a no so by time we did uh we ended up building that house a backyard on like nine and I told Jan I said we're going to build it and it's going to be level That was like, that was my pride and joy. It was a level. That's amazing.

Wow. I'm going to need a minute on that one. That's funny that that's a thing. Oh, it's a thing. This is good setting the record straight because people thought it was part of the whole drama. It is in fact is just one of those bizarre. No, it was great. I actually, when we rehearsed, I think all three of us, we didn't want to do a face-to-face, you know?

And so we had them stand next to each other and it was great. Except I was running around. It was like, you know, we actually shot in L.A., which is always sunny. But it happened that we came from London, which was, you're fighting the weather there. Right. Then we come back to L.A. and it's raining. And so I'm, you know, I remember sitting there and I'm trying to get the scene in the can. And I'm like, what is happening?

Why is it like, why is it not working? And it was because of the four properties. So are you surprised, happy that, that Jain is coming back, that they've figured it out they've uh look i i think you know we for me you know i it's been 15 18 years of my life and you know we grow together like we have kids our kids are growing up together um you know i remember when i first met then to try to do the tag you know i was told absolutely not he will he will he will and so somehow we were able to kind of get a meeting with him. And I was sharing with him about the characters in the universe. And I didn't know what

I was doing. I was just trying to really kind of engage him in Dom in the universe of Fast. And I remember I was sitting there. And at the end, he handed me a Dungeons and Dragons book. And to this day, I feel like it was because of the care that I and the love that I think for us, we connect it. And then you cut to 15 years later, I'm playing Dungeons and Dragons with him and his family. It's like that's that's fast and furious. Yeah.

You know, it's, we're always trying to tell the best story. You know, our community, look, when I started this, let's,

you know, it was kind of, the franchise was kind of in the gutter. Right. And so it was important that if we were going to kind of rebuild and this community, everyone matters. And, you know,

we don't take any. for granted. Yeah. You know? And so I think that's the spirit of this franchise. And I think ultimately, that's why I think it's kind of grown globally and I think generationally as I'm finding out. Yeah.

So you went to a very easy production like Star Trek Beyond, which had a script that, as I understand it, had to like, did you guys like throw out? They wanted a new script for the last second. So I'm shooting, I think it was True Detective Ventura, and this is a Thursday. and I get a call, and it's J.J. Abrams. And he said, hey, man, just curious, do you like Star Trek? And I said, oh, man, that's like, I grew up watching Star Trek with my dad, you know. It has so much meaning.

And he said, would you happen to have an idea for a Star Trek movie? And I said, aren't you guys in pre-production? He goes, no, we're shut, shut down. And I said, what? And he said, well, if you have an idea, do you want to come by the office on Monday? So this is Thursday and Monday and I'm thinking, oh my God,

what would be the ultimate Star Trek movie, you know? And I remember I went and had dinner with my parents and like it brought back so many memories. And so on Monday, I went down and sat with JJ and I kind of shared with him the idea for Star Trek beyond. And he's like, great. And this is end of January. And he said, let's do it.

we have to still production in June no script nothing and he goes can have you met Doug Jung do you guys want to jump on a plane and go meet Simon in London and and just like that we're flying to London

and it was it was tough it's the tough toughest thing I've ever had to do you know that Simon and I and Doug we joke about it now at the Soho hotel because it was in Tense. I mean, I think we, I had quit three times and Simon had quit four times and, you know, it just under the gun. It was just impossible. Like, how can we actually execute this to the level we wanted to in these circumstances? It was also we didn't know each other, you know? And I think, you know, for me, Simon Pegg is like, it was a dream to, to have the opportunity to work with him. But he, he comes from a very traditional, uh, process where like you write it. Then you go.

But I'm sitting there and there's a, there's, in Vancouver, I have to start building sets. Star Trek is not like Fast and Furious. Every idea that I come up with is a bill. It's going to take three months to make. Yeah, and we had no time. And so I had, I was trying to like be supportive. And I feel like Doug was almost like the kid in the, I mean, he's just looking at us going. And we're great friends.

I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, it's one of the best experiences and Simon is a genius. You know, I love Simon and Doug and but it was rough. That first I didn't know if we were going to make it out of that first week. Because you have to basically, you're like, okay, what's the setting? We need to like

get the production designers making like, what kind of planet are we going to, that kind of thing. And it was weird because I came in with kind of a loose idea of what the movie is. And so I had to start committing to building stuff but then I understand Simon's frustration too.

You know, because he's like, wait a minute. I got to figure out what, how I'm going to tell this story. I think it ended up being amazing. The movie's great. I mean, it's remarkably considering everything you're saying to me. It doesn't feel like a lot of films can feel that. You can feel the chaos on the screen. You don't feel that with beyond.

Oh, no, thank you. And I look, again, I give Doug and Simon so much credit because they had to like, believe me, I come from, again, I come from the indie. world where the script is king then you make these big budget where there's never a script you know and so um simon was also doing mission impossible and they got shut down i think they're trying to figure out their third act so he was in a he was you know i could i could empathize with what he was going through you know and um and also during the process you know he would act and then we would get together on the weekend and write because you know by the time we got to dubai there was no

the third act wasn't fully written yet and I had to tell the production designer I said just give me a 360 green screen and so we're writing as we're going um but mentioned you also had this cast that I know that loved each other these guys really unbelievable cast but also like I feel like there was some I mean I I I don't know how true this was that like Carl was having thoughts of like maybe I'm done maybe I don't need to come back like did did you again have to kind of become like the peacemaker kind of be like assuaged their their worries that like let's do this one more go around um there there were some there were some stuff there i look at the end of the day i was the new kid yeah um and so i i don't think i had the same uh standing as like a fast yeah um but but i would say that um that cast was unbelievable and um i think with carl i i love working with him because he comes to set and he's like he he a hundred percent feels like it's Star Trek McCoy I love that I love that everyone should feel that way and I would love yeah and I I love that kind of like that sense of entitlement um and I I wouldn't want it any other

way and I think that's what makes him so great to work with but also you see it on screen you know you see bones yeah and my dream was always to have bones and Spock be together on their own thread and so to be able to do that with him you know it really was kind of his the mccoy movie um so love it you love it you've also like you know like you've been attached to a lot of different really cool things and obviously the way this goes you can't make them all um there was terminator there was a born identity movie yeah it was born yep yep that was after Jeremy had taken over and they were planning on doing another renner one right yeah it was after i left for fast six And Donna Langley reached out and said, what do you think about Boren?

I was like, oh, man. And I, Renner's amazing. I mean, to this day, I still kind of miss, you know, what we were working on. Was that going to bring them both together? Or was it just going to be Aaron Cross? Was it also trying to involve Matt in there? I had some thoughts. But I think Matt was done at that point.

Again, you know, I had a great time. working on the script and getting to know Jeremy Renner was was again like it's the perk you know he's just such a great guy great actor but just a great human being and uh you know I think in the middle of doing that I think Matt and and Greengrass they decided to come back right which totally cool like that's their franchise and I totally understand you know but I think the the time that I had I think back fondly. And I actually, you know, there's some stuff in there that I hope to be able to bring to life in other projects. Because it was such a great time, you know, working with Andrew Baldwin on the script and Jeremy, like, just hanging out and talking his character, it was great.

Was which iteration, because Terminator's been through a lot? Was there, was it one that we saw that you were attached to? Was that? I had an idea. I had an original, I mean, an idea that. that as a fan, I felt like it was always shortchanged. Well, it's okay now to spill. What was it just?

I don't want to do the pitch. I felt like I was really excited about it. And I think they were, there was like an entity that owned it. And I came on and we were going to do it. Then Megan Ellison, like I think Universal and Warner Brothers were going to bid. And Megan Ellison came in and like outbid. them all. And it was also another one of those things where I think, you know, I met with Arnold and then I sat down with James Cameron and it was very clear to me that, you know, that's the

creator. That's, you know, and so I felt like, okay, cool. Like it felt very uncomfortable like me. Telling them what to do with their franchise. Yeah. And so this is kind of like the I'm Amy Nicholson, the film critic for the L.A. Times. And I'm Paul Shear, an actor, writer, and director. You might know me from The League, Veep, or my non-eligible for Academy Award role in Twisters. We come together to host Unspool, a podcast where you talk about good movies, critical hits. Fan favorites, must-season, and case you missed them. We're talking Parasite the Home Alone.

From Greece to the Dark Night. So if you love movies like we do, come along on our cinematic adventure. Listen to Unspooled wherever you get your podcast. And don't forget to hit the follow button. Are you looking for a movie review show where the critic is at the top of his or her game, meticulously breaking down and explaining exactly why a film does or does not work? Well, good luck with the search. Because we're having fun here on Adam does movies.

Each and every week, I hit the big blockbusters, I cover the streamers, and I even toss in some movie news for fun. Check out the show on Spotify, on Apple Podcasts, on YouTube. And hopefully, we can do movies together. Hot. As a filmmaker, I always want to be respectful. And obviously, he's the creator. He created it.

And so, you know, after a few meetings, I just felt like, you know, it probably wasn't going to be the right, the right environment. Yeah. You know, but they're amazing. Like, it's some of the highlights of to be able to sit with James Cameron and Arnold Schwarzenegger. It's all terminated for a hour, yeah, you know. Okay, it's official. We are very much in the final sprint to election day. And face it, between debates, polling releases, even court appearances, it can feel exhausting, even impossible to keep up with.

I'm Brad Milky. I'm the host of Start Here, the Daily Podcast from ABC News. And every morning, my team and I get you caught up on the day's news in a quick, straightforward way that's easy to understand. With just enough context so you can listen, get it, and go on with your day. So, kickstart your morning. Start Smart with Start Here and ABC News, because staying informed shouldn't feel overwhelming. I want to give some love to this sequence, which is really beautiful, the night time drifting sequence. This shot in that Griffith Park.

Oh, wow. Yeah, yeah. And this is the other thing that is amazing. I think I got very lucky doing my first action movie with drifting because the drivers are so precise. They were able to get the design shots to a tee, you know? And so as I find out later, when you're doing like these car action, it just gets so intense and crazy. But the drifting of it all was probably the closest to all the storyboards and all. the previs. Was it a tough decision to come back for the ninth film? Was it, it wasn't, it wasn't tough.

It was, you know, I think we've all kept in touch. And it was just one of those things where I think at some point, I just had an idea, and it was a simple call, you know, with the studio, with Vin, and, you know, we're back at it. Was, in the interim, I mean, obviously we have the tragic loss of Paul. And you were disconnected from the first. franchise. Even though you're always going to be connected, you let these other, you know, others filmmakers had a crack at it and did their thing and it kind of grew in different ways. It must have felt a little, I don't know, both at home but also a little foreign to come to come back into that kind of circumstance. Or no, I don't know. The loss of Paul obviously

hangs over everything. Yeah. No, Paul is such a big part of this family. And yeah, you definitely feel it you know um yeah no no no i miss him yeah a lot and and you know he he is one of those he's one of the the human beings where i think you know you sometimes you know i won't see him for a couple years but when i do see him it feels like you haven't missed a second right you know and so you know because of that i i feel like i miss him even more you know and and behind the scenes you know he he really was so special in kind of how everything the chemistry and how we all kind of were able to kind of interact with each other and he's definitely sorely missed what is the what is the lesson learned from the fast 10 experience which

obviously everybody can read about it you were the director you decided which must have been a mentally difficult decision. I would guess probably one of the most difficult professional decisions you've had to make to leave this franchise you love as it was starting of production. I'm sure you don't want to go into detail, but what can you say about sort of that decision?

You know, I look back now, it's like a year and a half and there's nothing but love, you know, for the cast. Like, I know we, everyone jokes about family, family, family. And like, that's how I feel, you know. this is a crazy business, and to be able to go through 15 to 18 years with a group of people

and to be able to just grow together, it's very special, you know. And the studio has been nothing but like trusting and this is something that's earned. And so it really just means everything to me, you know, I know that whether I like or not, I am going to be linked to this franchise. So I'm always rooting, you know, even when I was away between six and nine, I'm always rooting for it, you know. And so there's nothing but positivity, you know. Did you stay involved in any? Like, I know you spoke to Louis when he signed on.

Yeah. Very gracious of you. Have you seen the film? Is it tough for you to kind of go back and see that film, which was obviously a fraught moment in time? It's all good. You know, like I was, I always feel like as a film. filmmaker, I never want to lose that perspective, you know, I want to be respectful. Like, what we do is a privilege and it's, we're lucky, you know? And so whatever drama, my, my, I'm just kind of bummed

that it had to get out in the public. Right. You know, like I like to keep things, you know, I, I rather have the characters speak for the franchise, you know. And so I think whatever happened, it's, it's not, it shouldn't be. important i think whatever and i was there whatever they needed with whatever louis or anybody i just want to be supportive so that i think that's the spirit of you know of that situation but also just overall that's that's that's that's important to me you're a class act sir definitely um could you imagine directing another one at this point would you entertain another fast movie at this point in your career um i look i've been around long enough now that you never say never right um i never thought i was going to go back i mean six i really felt like that was a way out and you know i still

remember having that this conversation with paul you know and i think we were both at that point we're both you know fried a little bit you're like we're good need a second yeah he it was it was interesting. We had this, he said, I remember having conversation. He said, um, yeah, like, if you're going, I'm going. Wow. And I was like, man, it means the world to me, but you shouldn't. Don't put that on me. You go, come on. It's your own decision. He said, if you're leaving, I'm leaving. Wow. And then he called me, I think, a week later. And he said, you do know how much they're paying us, right? Like, when you see this film, which is a very ambitious film, particularly for where you were at in your career but if you look at the scale of this and then of course compared to the

later fast movies it's a relatively small film which is kind of weird to say about a movie of the size yeah but like do you look at it that way or do you think back to like the young filmmaker who is like slightly in over his head but just enough to like make it work it's weird because I think when you're doing it you're just in it and it's very myopic you know and I think um especially I think when I was starting off, I was very, I love filmmakers that have a point of view and very subjective. So there wasn't a lot of stuff in the cutting room floor, right? It's designed a certain way to tell. And I think as the scales got bigger, I think, you know, and also as I matured as filmmaker, I allowed myself to kind of experiment a little bit more on set. But I look back at this

film and I actually kind of, I like that process because whether you like it or not, you know, I am choosing a lens and I'm choosing the frame and move the camera a certain way. And sometimes you do kind of lose that a little bit. It's a different feel with the bigger movies. And I'm glad I got to try everything. And I think it's, you know, as we sit here now, I feel like I'm just hitting my prime. a filmmaker you know and so um i'm just excited that everything cut together because there was not there was not a lot of coverage how do you accomplish something like this where it's like

i imagine this is where you have to get some is a cg or is this another location masking for japan because how can you possibly this is uh downtown l a and what i learned was that buildings or buildings um and a couple signs up uh it's amazing because it was like eight city blocks in downtown LA and I remember at three in the morning I would walk and it looked just like Tokyo you know but yeah it was a this is a small big movie I would say right you know it's it's it is it's always a miracle that you can get any of these sequences done yeah because you know you got businesses you have you know traffic that you're diverting and you can't just like show up and do a couple runs these are design you you rehearse for months and months

And like the Shibuya, we actually had to build Shibuya in Burbank too and just like you had to get all the shots together. Right. We're heading into the home stretch here. You mentioned, you know, getting VIN on board. Like when in that process was that, was that being discussed for a while or was that kind of like a late addition? Like let's try to bring these, bring this other part of the franchise in. You know, it's interesting. You talk to different people.

I'm sure they have different stories, so I can only share my point of view. And like I was saying earlier, I would always joke on set, like, where's Don now? Where's Brian now? You know, and I like thinking in those terms. And I was looking for an opportunity to be able to somehow link up this movie to the universe. But every time I would try to bring up that, I would just told there's no way. there's no way again just because it's too complicated he would never do it etc yeah they're like he left for a reason he's never going to come back um you know i so i i i remember i i wrote um the scene that's in

now for for dom but actually i had also written the scene with brian oh wow and then i actually tried to write a scene with dom and bry didn't work at all but but but it was really cool because in the in the process of working on those scenes it felt like Han had a really a real connection to dom you know like two outlaws um and uh it was cool to talk to vin because it wasn't just me trying to sell him right because i actually had thought a lot about how they connected and their backstory and how that works into the bigger fast universe um and you know now that i know vin really well. That makes sense. That's his language. We spend hours talking about things that you never see on screen. Right. And I think that's how we connected. And that's how he ultimately said yes.

Was he the dungeon master when you played with him? Oh, it's awesome. He, yeah, he would do the voices. I've never played, but I knew I was like probably like in the elite league of Dungeons and Dragons. That's amazing. I was talking to on Star Trek talking to Chris Pine and he's awesome he's one of my favorite

human beings and great actor and he I don't know what I remember the concert because he grabbed me and so it goes is your duty to go make indie movies because you can do the fuck you want now and I

stuck with you hasn't it? That is awesome to hear but also to be reminded that Like, you know, let's let's go and keep growing. And this is not, you know, you got to go earn it every time. We all need a crisp pine in our lives, reminding us what's important. In your day-to-day life, discover for whatever reason they have to recognize you or your name comes up. And they're like, oh, wait, this guy directed five Fast and Furious movies.

You must have some special moments of just like, these movies really mean a lot to people for a number of reasons. And that must, again, be a reminder of. the unique privilege you've had. Do any jump out at you over the years of just sort of like meeting quote-unquote regular people and hearing what it means to them? It's happened to me many times at the DMV. They're big fast. I would imagine.

You've gotten out of any parking tickets thanks to the fast franchise? No, no, no, none of that. But DMV, I'm big at the DMV. It's like they recognize mine and they're truly just passionate. That's hysterical. it's great and um i i i i it's interesting like i think europe i get a lot more like i'll be walking and people will stop and and they'll talk in airports of course i think it is um but yeah no i i i always appreciated whenever you know uh any kind of interaction with people that

appreciate um and i appreciate the fact that they give you know to give us a chance two hours of their lives to be able to connect. And again, the real ones say Tokyo Drift. That's, if you want to get your way into Justin's heart, you see him in the wild, go with Tokyo Drift. That's the, yeah, that's the password. It is called Fast and Furious. And I think that, you know, what I like is that this film can stand on its own.

And at the end, hopefully when the credits are rolling, you're like, wait, I'm part, it's part of this other universe and then it gets you thinking about maybe potential connections and i think when he was talking about han um i felt like that was something that was kind of lacking in this franchise and i was so happy and excited to be able to at least infuse that um so that by time we did four nobody had a problem that han died in three you know and and also that's that's another reason why having not having numbers behind like fast forward. I think that was important. My only issue

if you watch is that Fast 5 I love Fast 5 and it was supposed to be Furious 6 and if you watch a movie it's called Furious 6 but when they put in the in the posters it was fast and Furious 6. Oh okay. So there's an inconsistency there. That's your problem? Look at these titles.

Your bananas titles, Justin. Well, I'm like we decided on Fast 5 and this should be Furious 6 and so I did that for the film. But then on the posters, it says Fast and Furious Six. So it's fun. It's a lot of fun. Whatever the result, I love that everyone, there's just a lot of passion, a lot of

passion. And then we go at it and that's how we make these movies. Do you think there should be like a true finale? Like Vin keeps saying, like it's like, we got one more, we got two more, we got seven more. Do they need to end definitively? Does that matter? or is it like we'll just keep making them until you know the ideas run dry i'm only going to speak as a fan um i know i'm part of it but i i think one when you're going back to your uh question

one of the things that i really appreciated is that you know i i've met people from around the world and it almost feels like when you know these films come out every two years you know they go see it with their yeah family with their dad with their you know and and and So, yeah, it's sad to think that it would just end one day, you know? And like, I'm all for, you know, let's keep going, you know. But I think that was the one thing that through all these years that connects is that people have grown up watching this with their friends, with their family. And I actually, that's actually an interesting question because I never really even thought about. it you know i know talked about final chapter this and that but i i think living living

my life running into fans actually that question now like makes me think that i don't see how it's i don't know how it yeah it's like killing a loved one actively why are you like cutting this off when it means so much to somebody yeah um this film these films mean a ton to people for many reasons and you are as involved as responsible for as any human being in the franchise helming five of these amazing movies. I'm so glad that you said yes to this one and said yes to chatting with me all these years later. Thank you. And it's because it's Tokyo Drift.

You know, it's actually really cool because, again, I'm about to kind of go do my first indie in over 20 years. Wow. And I think just sitting here with you, you know, this is such a pivotal part of my development, you know. And I, again, when it came out, it was like, you know, the critics trashed it. It was not a great weekend. And to see it kind of thrive and be embraced, again, it just shows that like, I think as a filmmaker, sometimes the fact that like I'm still around making movies 20 years later is exciting. But also seeing sometimes the films that in its time maybe didn't, you know, just was not for whatever reason. And I think the test of time is that, you know, this is one of the few ones

that I've done where I feel like it got, it got like another life. And I'm always so proud for the cast and for the crew. It's like a fine wine. It's aging well. As are you, sir. Thank you so much for the time. Good luck on your future endeavors. And let's chat about another of these sometime. Oh, definitely. Thank you. All right. Thanks, ma'am. Remember, if you want to experience the entire watch-along of Fast and Furious Tokyo Drift with me and director Justin Lynn. It's all there for you right now on patreon.com slash happy, sad, confused. Check it out. And so ends another edition of happy, sad, confused. Remember to review, rate and subscribe to this show on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm a big podcast person. I'm Daisy Ridley

and I definitely wasn't pressured to do this by Josh. Are you looking for a movie review show where the critic is at the top of his or her game, meticulously breaking down and explaining exactly why a film does or does not work? Well, good luck with the search. Because we're having fun here on Adam does movies. I talk to you like we just got done seeing a movie together, giving you the pros and cons, and I'm digging in the trenches in the mud and muck on streaming services,

telling you which films are worth your time. Each and every week, I hit the big blockbusters, I cover the streamers, and I even toss in some movie news for fun. Because this show is Adam does movies. I'm obviously Adam. I probably should have led with that. But perhaps I have led you to check out the show on Spotify, on Apple Podcasts, on YouTube. And hopefully, we can do movies together. Hooh-ho-hoo! Hot.