Justin Lin was the first one to let us know that he was in production on the sixth Fast & Furious movie, thanks to his Twitter feed, but he's apparently not too busy filming the exploits of Dom Torretto to set up a potential new project for himself.
Lin is reportedly the top choice over at Universal to direct L.A. Riots, which Ron Howard and Brian Grazer are producing through their Imagine Entertainment. According to Vulture the project has gone through multiple stages of development, including having Spike Lee attached to direct at one point, and it's not clear if Lin will be using the original draft or starting anew. While Lee really would be the perfect person to tackle the true story behind the L.A. riots-- the riot scene in Do The Right Thing, after all, is a classic-- he apparently balked when Universal didn't want to pay $35 million to shoot his version of the movie.
Vulture's source speculates that the studio will be even cheaper when it comes to Lin's take on the material-- "with the way business has changed, I can't imagine they're going to spend even $20 million to make it now." But Lin's track record with the Fast & Furious movies doesn't just suggest a slicker and poppier take on the material than Lee would have made, but a faith from the studio that could allow him to get away with a lot more. Lee is a singular, unpredictable filmmaker, while Lin has proven himself very good at working within the studio system. This version of L.A. Riots would probably be a lot more commercial, but if that's what it takes to finally get it made, why not?
